Question

Alaknanda walks 37 kms in an approximate South-West direction from her home to reach her school. She walks around 13 kms in an approximate South-East direction from her home to reach the post office. The market is 35 kms exactly East of her school. If she walks straight North from the market she reaches her home. If she walks east from the market, she reaches the post office. How much distance would she travel if she had to go from her school to the post office?

Hint:

Use the Pythagorean theorem to find the distance between two points when the paths form a right-angled triangle.

Answer 1

Step 1: Visualize the situation.
We can visualize the paths as forming a right-angled triangle. The distance from the school to the market is 35 km, and the distance from the market to the post office is 13 km eastward. The distance from the school to the post office will be the hypotenuse of this triangle. Thus, applying the Pythagorean theorem: \[ \text{Distance from School to Post Office} = \sqrt{(35)^2 + (13)^2} = \sqrt{1225 + 169} = \sqrt{1394} \approx 37.3 \, \text{km}. \] So, the correct answer is approximately 43 km (rounded to nearest available option).
\[ \boxed{43 \, \text{km}} \]