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smc

geometry senior

Problem

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is miles southwest of downtown St. Paul and miles southeast of downtown Minneapolis. Which of the following is closest to the number of miles between downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
Solution
The directions "southwest" and "southeast" are orthogonal. Thus the described situation is a right triangle with legs miles and miles long. The hypotenuse length is , and thus the answer is . Without a calculator one can note that .
Final answer
A