In an open ground, Mahesh walks 20 m towards North, turns left and goes 40 m. He turns to his left again and walks 50 m. How far is he from the starting point?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → 50 m
Each turn is taken from the direction Mahesh is facing at that moment:
He walks 20 m North, so he faces North
Facing North, a left turn is West: he walks 40 m West
Facing West, a left turn is South: he walks 50 m South
He ends 40 m West of the start and \(50-20=30\) m South of it. These two distances are the arms of a right triangle, so the distance from the start is its hypotenuse:
\(\sqrt{40^{2}+30^{2}}=\sqrt{1600+900}=\sqrt{2500}=50\) m
