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jmc

geometry junior

Problem

From his base camp at the equator, Bruce hiked on flat terrain kilometers due north, then km due east, and finally km due south. Using a direct route, how many kilometers would Bruce be from base camp? (Assume the Earth is flat for this problem.)
Solution
After travelling km north and km south, he has effectively traveled km north. In addition, he has traveled a total of km east. Applying the Pythagorean theorem, Bruce has ended up from his origin.
Final answer
25 \, \text{km}