After taking off from the landing pad, a helicopter flies 4 miles north, then 9 miles southwest. How far is the helicopter from the landing pad (), and in what direction () must it fly to head directly back to the landing pad?

Question

Mathematics

Ana Donovan

20 March, 12:23

After taking off from the landing pad, a helicopter flies 4 miles north, then 9 miles southwest. How far is the helicopter from the landing pad (), and in what direction () must it fly to head directly back to the landing pad?

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Answers (1)

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Adrienne Harrison · Answer 1

Answer: The helicopter is 8 miles from the landing pad.

The helicopter must fly to east to reach the landing pad.

Step-by-step explanation:The helicopter flies north which is upward for 4 miles, the southwest is at an angle downwards to the left for 9 miles. Overall the right hand triangle is formed, therefore we can use Pythagoras to solve for X.

r^2=x^2+y^2

r = 9

y = 4

Then x = 8.06

We moved y to the other side and solve for x and we placed square roots on both sides to solve for x.

The helicopter must move straight to the right to reach landing pad.