Alex walks 1 mile towards East and then he turns towards South and walks further 5 miles

Alex walks 1 mile towards East and then he turns towards South and walks further 5 miles. After that he turns East and walks 2 miles further. Finally he turns to his North and walks 9 miles. How far is he from the starting point?

  1. 25 miles
  2. 2 miles
  3. 5 miles
  4. 4 miles

Solution

From the figure, the final position is E and the starting point is D.


DT = DF + FT = DF + HP 

= 1 + 2 = 3 miles

ET = EP – TP = EP – FH 

= 9 – 5 = 4 miles

The distance between starting point and the end point can be calculated using pythagoras theorem.

(DE)2 = 32 + 42 = 9 + 16 = 25

DE = 5 miles

The correct option is C.