<p>Ok, I know this problem looks easy, but I'm not getting the right answer...this is from the online prep program btw. </p>
<p>A hiker starts at point X and goes straight north 3 miles, then straight east 1 mile, then straight north 5 miles, then straight east 5 miles to point Y. If the hiker had been able to travel in a straight line from point x to point y, how many miles would the hiker have traveled.</p>
<p>A. 8.9
B. 10.0
C. 10.3
D. 14.0
E. 16.0</p>
<p>Correct Answer: B</p>
<p>K, well I found the lengths of the two hypotenuses of the triangles you can make (radical 10 and radical 50) and add them up to get 10.23, which is wrong...why?</p>
<p>The easiest way to do this is to just draw it out. You’ll notice that the total change North is 5+3=8, and the total change East is 1+5=6. 8^2 + 6^2 = 10^2, there you go.</p>
<p>The way you’re doing it, if you draw it on graph paper, you’ll notice it’s crooked, not straight.</p>
<p>Instead of using the Pythagorean theorem, you could realize that the triangle is a 3-4-5 triangle, and know that the last side has to be 10. Since one side equals 8 and the other 6, which corresponds to the 4 and 3 side respectively. You would just need to multiple the last side by 2 as well to get your answer. </p>
<p>Might seem confusing but will save you a lot of time on the ACT and SAT, since you don’t need to do any math other then multiplying by the common ratio.</p>