Elementary Technical Mathematics

Published by Brooks Cole
ISBN 10: 1285199197
ISBN 13: 978-1-28519-919-1

Chapter 12 - Section 12.3 - Triangles - Exercise - Page 398: 10

Answer

$$16 \ mi .$$

Work Step by Step

Since we have a right triangle with legs a, b and the hypotenuse c, then by the Pythagorean theorem, we have $$c^2=a^2+b^2.$$ Since $c=16.8 mi$ and $b=4.5 mi$, then $a$ is given by $$ a=\sqrt{c^2-b^2}=\sqrt{16.8^2-4.5^2}\approx 16 \ mi .$$
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