Re: For the final exam in a scuba diving certification course, Karl naviga
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11 Jun 2023, 04:00
OE
Draw a diagram. The question states that Karl started x meters below the boat and then swam 8 meters straight down, which puts Karl x + 8 meters below the boat. Karl makes a right turn and swims parallel to the water 24 meters. He then swims 26 meters directly back to the boat. This completes a right triangle with a hypotenuse of 26 meters and legs of 24 and x + 8 meters. Use the Pythagorean Theorem to show that 10^2 meters + 24^2 meters = 26^2 meters. So, this is a 10-24-26 triangle, which is twice the sides of a familiar 5-12-13 triangle. The question asks for the value of x, the number of meters below the boat that Karl began his dive from, which is found by the equation x + 8 = 10, so x = 2.