One of Madison's hobbies is to locate hidden geocaches. To find yesterday's cache, Madison was instructed to start at a water fountain at a local park. Then, the directions had her walk 15 yards due west and 8 yards due south. If this was the location of the cache, how far was it from the water fountain where she started?
A) 23 yards
B) 12 yards
C) 7 yards
D) 17 yards
how far was it from the water fountain where she started?
To find the distance from the water fountain to the location of the cache, we can use the Pythagorean theorem.
The distance walked due west is 15 yards and the distance walked due south is 8 yards.
Using the Pythagorean theorem:
(distance)² = (15)² + (8)²
(distance)² = 225 + 64
(distance)² = 289
Taking the square root of both sides to solve for distance:
distance = √289
distance = 17 yards
Therefore, the cache was 17 yards from the water fountain where Madison started.
So, the answer is D) 17 yards.