1993 AIME Problems/Problem 2
Problem
During a recent campaign for office, a candidate made a tour of a country which we assume lies in a plane. On the first day of the tour he went east, on the second day he went north, on the third day west, on the fourth day south, on the fifth day east, etc. If the candidate went miles on the day of this tour, how many miles was he from his starting point at the end of the day?
Solution
On the first day, the candidate moves , and so on. The E/W displacement is thus . Applying difference of squares, we see that The N/S displacement is Since , the two distances evaluate to and . By the Pythagorean Theorem, the answer is .
See also
1993 AIME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
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Followed by Problem 3 | |
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