I.Q test question- i can't understand?

Question

I did a recent I.Q test on a website www.chooseaprize.com and it had a question with 4 possible anwswers to choose from - however I thought the answer is 28 and this was not one of the 4 answers. the question -

Two cars start off at the same point on a straight road facing opposite directions. Each car drives for six miles, takes a left turn, and drives for eight miles. How far apart are the two cars?

Answer 1

Each car drives the sides of a triangle. The hypotentuse is the distance from the starting point.

A^2 + B^2 = C^2

(6 * 6) + (8 * 8) = 36 + 64 = 100

sqrt 100 = 10

Each car is 10 mile from the starting point in opposite directions, so the cars are 20 miles apart.

This could be solved without much math if you know that one form of a right triangle is a 3-4-5 sided triangle.

6 is twice 3, 8 is twice 4 and 10 is twice 5. You still need to double the ten miles to get the final answer of 20 miles.

Answer 2

They are 20 miles apart. Do a triangle 6 on the base and 8 on the side. The slope is the square root of the sum of the two sides squared. Thus 6 squared = 36, plus 8 squared = 64. The sum is 100, and the square root of 100 = 10. Thus two vehicles going the exact same distances in opposite directions = 10 for each car, or 20 miles.

Answer 3

The cars are 20 miles apart. If you assume that the left turns were at 90 degree angles and otherwise the cars were traveling in straight lines, then you have 2 right triangles. To find out how far one car was from its starting point, all you have to do is figure out the hypotenuse of one of the triangles (a^2 + b^2 = c^2), which comes to 10, and then multiply it by 2.

Answer 4

20

Answer 5

20

Answer 6

20 was probably a choice however, just do the pythagorean theorem (6 miles and then 8 miles are the sides of 2 triangles) that are opposite each other. Then find the hypotenuse of each triangle and there is your distance. The triangles are 6-8-10 with 10 being the hypotenuse which is half the distance they are apart.

So final answer = 20 miles/units away from each other.

Answer 7

It's 20 miles.

The path of each car consists of two line segments, 6 miles and 8 miles long, that are at right angles to each other. If you draw a line between the two cars, then you get two right triangles with legs of 6 and 8 miles. By the Pythagorean theorem, the length of the hypotenuse of each triangle, c, satisfies 6^2+8^2=c^2, so c^2=36+64=100, meaning c=10. Double this length (because there are two such triangles) to get the total distance between them.

Answer 8

Answer is 20 miles. after the 1st legs, they are 12 miles apart. Each turns left, so they are still going in oposite directions.

If I could draw a picture here it would be easier for you to understand.

On a piece of pater, draw a 12cm vertical line, AB. From the top end, draw a perpendicular line 8cm left, AC. From the bottom, draw a perpendicular line 8cm right, BD. Now draw CD connecting the 2. This line should measure 20cm.

Reason: CD bisects AB at point E, so triangle ACE is a rt triangle with leggs 6 & 8. By Pythagoeian theorem, CE=10cm. Triangle BDE is congruent & DE=10cm so CD=20cm.

Answer 9

I think that its 20 miles.

draw the question you will see that if you connect the finish points,you will have 2 number 3/4/5 triangles.

Answer 10

You have to be aware of a 3-4-5 right triangle. With that information, you can double the hyponenuses of 5 to ten, then double it [two triangles] to get 20.

Answer 11

it is 20.because both cars take left turns which makes them far apart in a diagonal. to figure out the length of diagonal use the pythagorean theroem. the base and altitude is 6 and 8 respectively...