Math Is Fun Forum

stellina91

Member

Registered: 2008-04-15

Posts: 12

Pythagoras' Theorem Word Problem!

A paddock on level ground is 4 km long and 3 km wide.  Answer these questions, correct to the nearest second.

a) If a farmer walks from one corner to the opposite corner along the fences in 84 minutes, how long will it take him if he walks across the diagonal?

b) If his assistant jogs along the diagonal in 40 minutes, how long will it take him if he jogs along the fences?

Please help me!  Thank you.

JaneFairfax

Member

Registered: 2007-02-23

Posts: 6,868

Re: Pythagoras' Theorem Word Problem!

Use Pythagoras’s theorem to work out the length of the diagonal of the paddock.

Hint for (a). The length of from one corner to the other along the fences is 3 + 4 = 7 km. If the farmer takes 84 minutes to walk 7 km, his speed is [sup]7[/sup]⁄[sub]84[/sub] = [sup]1[/sup]⁄[sub]12[/sub] km per minute. At this speed, how long will it take for him to walk the length of the diagonal of the paddock (which you should have worked out using Pythagoras’s theorem)?

(b) is similar.

Last edited by JaneFairfax (2008-04-16 19:24:37)