Will someone please help me with this problem?

Question

I have tried 4 times to figure this problem out and my teacher keeps telling me it's wrong...She won't help anyone, because she thinks it's wrong...It's not even a test, she NEVER helps anyone, except to tell you if it's right or wrong. Can you work it out and give the answer please?...Thanks...Here it is:

Scott, a freshman at Michigan State University, needs to walk from his dorm room in Wilson Hall to his math class in Wells Hall. Normally, he walks 500 meters east and 600 meters north along the sidewalks, but today he is running late. He decides to take the shortcut through the Tundra.

a.) How many meters long is Scott's shortcut?
b.) How much shorter is the shortcut than Scott's usual route?

Answer 1

if it is a straight short cut triangle
a^2+b^2=C^2

500m^2+600m^2=C^2

figure from there (dont have good caculator)

but answere should be around
780 meters

Answer 2

The route can be described as a right triangle.

one side 500 m, the other 600 m

The shortcut is the hypotenuse of the right triangle

a)
Using the Pythagorean theorem.

c² = a² + b²
where a = 500, b = 600, and c the shortcut.

c² = 500² +600²
c² = 610,000
c = √(610,000)
c = 781.025 meters

Now for b)
The old way was 500+600 = 1,100 m
while the shortcut is about 781 meters

So Scott saves 1100 - 781 = 319 meters taking the shortcut.

Hope this helps, we could use less teachers like yours!
.

Answer 3

What Scott is doing is walking along the hypotenuse of a right triangle. The hypotenuse (c) is calculated using the following formula: a^2 + b^2 = c^2.

500^2 + 600^2 = c^2
250,000 + 360,000 = c^2
610,000 = c^2
c = 781.025

a) Scott's shortcut is approximately 781 meters
b) Scott's shortcut is approximately 319 meters shorter than his usual route.

Answer 4

OK, so he is traversing the hypoteneuse of a right triangle with sides of 500 and 600 meters.

h^2 = (500)^2 + (600)^2

So, solve for the hypotenesus - rounded off, I get 781 meters.

So, it is (1100-781) = 219 meters shorter.

Ask your teacher to how many significant figures she wants the answer, since the answer is not a whole number.