Difference between revisions of "1973 AHSME Problems/Problem 20"

m (Solution)
(See Also)
Line 14: Line 14:
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==
{{AHSME 35p box|year=1973|before=[[1972 AHSME]]|after=[[1974 AHSME]]}}
+
{{AHSME 30p box|year=1973|before=[[1972 AHSME]]|after=[[1974 AHSME]]}}
  
 
[[Category:Introductory Geometry Problems]]
 
[[Category:Introductory Geometry Problems]]

Revision as of 14:01, 20 February 2020

Problem

A cowboy is 4 miles south of a stream which flows due east. He is also 8 miles west and 7 miles north of his cabin. He wishes to water his horse at the stream and return home. The shortest distance (in miles) he can travel and accomplish this is

$\textbf{(A)}\ 4+\sqrt{185} \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 16 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 17 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 18 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ \sqrt{32}+\sqrt{137}$

Solution

First, you draw a reflection of the cowboy across the river. Then, you draw the straight line from the "cowboy" to his cabin. This will be a $8, 15, 17$ Pythagorean triple, so the answer is $17$, which is $\boxed{\textbf{(C)}}$.

See Also

1973 AHSME (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
1972 AHSME
Followed by
1974 AHSME
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
All AHSME Problems and Solutions