Expert: Lynn Houston - 4/15/2009

Question
If 18 feet, 10 inches is cut from a wire that is 25 feet, 8 inches long, what is the length of the wire that is left?

1. 6ft. 1in.
2. 6ft. 2in.
3. 6ft. 9in.
4. 6ft. 10in.
5. 7ft. 2in.

A boat travels due east for a distance of 15 miles.  It then travels due north for a distance of 20 miles, at which point it drops anchor.  How many miles is the boat from its starting point?

1. 23
2. 25
3. 29
4. 30
5. 35

Answer
Easiest way to do the first one is to convert both measurements to inches, subtract and then convert back to feet.  

4. 6ft. 10in.

The second one, you should be using the Pythagorean theorem (a^2 + b^ = c^2, where a and b are the distances traveled east and north).  Although the boat has traveled 35 actual miles, it's only 25 miles (in a straight line) from where it started.