Two cars leave an intersection. One car travels north; the other east. When the car traveling north had gone 1

Question

Two cars leave an intersection. One car travels north; the other east. When the car traveling north had gone 18 mi, the distance between the cars was 6 mi more than the distance traveled by the car heading east. How far had the east bound car traveled?

Answer 1

distance by car travel north = 18 miles
distance by car travel east = x
distance between cars = x + 6
use Pythagorean formula, (x+6) is your hypotenuse

(x+6)^2 = 18^2 +x^2
x^2 + 12x + 36 = 324 + x^2
x^2 - x^2 + 12x = 324 - 36
12x = 288
x = 288/12
x = 24 miles (answer)

Answer 2

The distance traveled by the two cars forms the legs of a right triangle. The hypotenuse is the distance between the two cars.

18 = distance traveled by car going north
x = distance traveled by car going east
x + 6 = distance between the two cars

By the Pythagorean Theorem:

(x + 6)² = x² + 18²

x² + 12x + 36 = x² + 324
12x = 288
x = 24

The car going east travelled 24 miles.

Answer 3

The car going east is gone 2 (too). =========================

Answer 4

And which of the drivers knows the difference between Geography and Geometry? Not you, as I can see...