On the school playground, the slide is 8 feet due west of the tire swing and 15 feet due south of the monkey bars. What is the distance between the tire swing and the monkey bars?
To find the distance between the tire swing and the monkey bars, we can create a right triangle using the information given.
Let the distance between the tire swing and the slide be the base of the right triangle, which is 8 feet (west).
Let the distance between the monkey bars and the slide be the height of the right triangle, which is 15 feet (south).
Using the Pythagorean Theorem (a^2 + b^2 = c^2), where a and b are the two shorter sides of the triangle and c is the hypotenuse, we can calculate the distance between the tire swing and the monkey bars:
8^2 + 15^2 = c^2
64 + 225 = c^2
289 = c^2
c = √289
c = 17
Therefore, the distance between the tire swing and the monkey bars is 17 feet.