Question

o) if the current had not been so strong and had only swept sara 20 meters downstream, about how many meters would she actually have swum? round to the nearest whole number. $a^{2}+b^{2}=c^{2}$

Explanation:

Step1: Identify the formula

Use the Pythagorean theorem \(a^{2}+b^{2}=c^{2}\), where \(a = 20\) (distance downstream) and \(b = 120\) (distance she thought she swam).

Step2: Substitute values

Substitute \(a = 20\) and \(b=120\) into the formula: \(c^{2}=20^{2}+120^{2}\).
Calculate \(20^{2}=400\) and \(120^{2}=14400\). Then \(c^{2}=400 + 14400=14800\).

Step3: Solve for \(c\)

Take the square root of \(14800\), \(c=\sqrt{14800}\approx121.66\).

Answer:

\(122\) meters (rounded to the nearest whole number)