Paul drove 50 miles north, then changed direction and drove 120 miles east. At the end of this trip, how far was he from

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Vincen: Legendary Member; Posts: 2898; Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 2:49 pmFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 6 times

by Vincen » Sat Jan 23, 2021 6:37 am

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Paul drove 50 miles north, then changed direction and drove 120 miles east. At the end of this trip, how far was he from his starting point?

A. 70 miles
B. 110 miles
C. 130 miles
D. 150 miles
E. 170 miles

Answer: C

Source: Magoosh

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Sat Jan 23, 2021 6:37 am

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Scott@TargetTestPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 8175; Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 amFollowed by: 29 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 43 times

Re: Paul drove 50 miles north, then changed direction and drove 120 miles east. At the end of this trip, how far was he

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Mon Feb 08, 2021 11:33 am

Vincen wrote: ↑
Sat Jan 23, 2021 6:37 am
Paul drove 50 miles north, then changed direction and drove 120 miles east. At the end of this trip, how far was he from his starting point?

A. 70 miles
B. 110 miles
C. 130 miles
D. 150 miles
E. 170 miles

Answer: C

Solution:

This is a right triangle problem, as the distances of 50 miles and 120 miles are the two legs of a right triangle and we need to determine the length of the hypotenuse. We can use the Pythagorean theorem to determine that this is a 5-12-13 right triangle. Since 50 and 120 are 10 times 5 and 12, respectively, we see that the hypotenuse must be 13 x 10 = 130 miles.

Answer: C

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swerve: Legendary Member; Posts: 2560; Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:04 pmFollowed by: 6 members

Re: Paul drove 50 miles north, then changed direction and drove 120 miles east. At the end of this trip, how far was he

by swerve » Tue Feb 09, 2021 3:18 am

Vincen wrote: ↑
Sat Jan 23, 2021 6:37 am
Paul drove 50 miles north, then changed direction and drove 120 miles east. At the end of this trip, how far was he from his starting point?

A. 70 miles
B. 110 miles
C. 130 miles
D. 150 miles
E. 170 miles

Answer: C

Source: Magoosh

If we make a diagram, it will be a right angled triangle with one side as $50$ and the other side as $120.$

We have to find the hypotenuse of this right angled triangle $=\sqrt{50^2 + 70^2} = 130$

Therefore, C

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