Answer:
21
Step-by-step explanation:
Kindly check the image below to see a visual of how the question is set up.
( my apologies for the terrible handwriting lol )
Now lets look back at the question.
The question is asking us to find the total length of Jayleen and Walter's entire walk.
Essentially it's asking for the perimeter.
In order to find the perimeter we must find the length of the hypotenuse.
Notice that the image created forms a triangle with a right angle.
That being said we can use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve for the missing side length ( or the "shortcut" ) ( also note that the Pythagorean theorem only works with right triangles )
The Pythagorean theorem = [tex]a^2+b^2=c^2[/tex] where a and b = legs and c = hypotenuse
The two legs = 5 and 7 and the hypotenuse = the shortcut
That being said, we plug in the given values ( a and b ) and solve for "c"
[tex]5^2+7^2=c^2[/tex]
step 1: Simplify
[tex]5^2=25\\7^2=49\\25+49=74[/tex]
now we have 74 = c²
step 2 take the square root of each side
[tex]\sqrt{74} =8.60232\\\sqrt{c^2} =c[/tex]
we're left with c = 8.60232
This means that the shortcut that Jayleen and Walter took had a distance of 8.6
Finally we find the perimeter of the triangle
Perimeter = sum of side lengths
8.6 + 7 + 5 = 20.6
* round to the nearest whole number *
The answer would be 21
