Help with an 8th grade math problem, plz??

Question

Bill walks 1/2 mile south, then 3/4 mile east, and finally 1/2 mile south. How many miles is he, in a direct line, from his starting point??

Choices...
A)1
B)1 1/4
C)1 1/2
D)1 3/4
E)2

Answer 1

You can draw a triangle of Bills movements, putting all the South travel together in one go, then the east travel along the base.

You have a right angle triangle, South side 1 mile and East side 3/4 mile.

You are being asked to find the length of the hypotenuse, which is the striaght lione from the origin to the finishing point.
Use Pythagoras .

Distance = sqrt(1^2 + (3/4)^2) = sqrt (1^2 + 0.75^2)

Cheers

Answer 2

1 1/4

Answer 3

Sequence means nothing - he has walked 1 mile south and 3/4 miles east. So...

x = sqt (1 + 3/4)^2 = sqt(1+9/16) = sqt(25/16) = 5/4

So... B

Answer 4

If he walks 0.5 mile south twice and 0.75 miles east once, he forms a right triangle of 1 mile south and 0.75 miles east. The direct line from his starting point is the hypotenuse.

The Pythagorean Theorem is:

C equals to the square root of A squared + B squared

C = square root of { (1) + (0.75 X 0.75) } or

C = square root of { 1 + 0.5625} or square root of { 1.5625}

or

C = 1.25 miles

Answer 5

(B) 1 1/4