## anonymous 3 years ago In baseball, the distance of the paths between each pair of consecutive bases is 90 ft and the paths form right angles. How far does the ball need to travel if it is thrown from home plate directly to second base? I know we need to find the height of the triangle using the Pythagorean Theorem, but my answer was wrong :( Help please?

1. anonymous

127.279221 feet

2. phi

you are asking for the length of a diagonal of a square with sides = 90 you can use pythagoras or you can use the idea that you have a 45-45-90 triangle.

3. saifoo.khan
4. phi

can you post how you did this problem ?

5. anonymous

I did h^2 + 45^2 = 90^2

6. phi

|dw:1365554076170:dw|

7. phi

I don't see where you got h^2 + 45^2 = 90^2 but look at the picture...

8. anonymous

I was thinking of a triangle instead of a square. So would it be 90^2 + 90^2 = h^2 ?

9. phi

yes and $h= \sqrt{90^2 + 90^2} = \sqrt{2\cdot 90^2}= 90 \sqrt{2}$

10. anonymous

Thank you so much! :D

11. phi

Think over how you got the wrong answer, and what you would do differently to get the right answer.