You are in a car. The car begins your journey by traveling 3 miles south in a straight path. The car then travels 9 miles east in a straight path and then turns and travels another 9 miles south in a straight path to end the journey. What is the straight-line distance between the point where you started the journey and where the car ended the journey?

12 miles south and 9 miles east

Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find out the hypotenuse of this right triangle.

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To find the straight-line distance between the starting point and the ending point, you can use the Pythagorean theorem. The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

In this case, the car first traveled 3 miles south and then 9 miles east, forming a right triangle. The southward distance represents one of the legs, and the eastward distance represents the other leg.

To find the length of the hypotenuse, square each leg, sum them, and then take the square root of the result.

For this question, let's calculate the straight-line distance:

- Leg 1 (southward): 3 miles
- Leg 2 (eastward): 9 miles

Squared lengths:
- Leg 1 squared: 3^2 = 9
- Leg 2 squared: 9^2 = 81

Sum of squared lengths: 9 + 81 = 90

Taking the square root of 90, we get the straight-line distance:

√90 ≈ 9.49 miles

Therefore, the straight-line distance between the starting point and the ending point is approximately 9.49 miles.