...Pythagorean Quadratic Melissa Hernandez MAT221: Introduction to Algebra Instructor Srabasti Dutta August 4, 2014 Pythagorean Quadratic Ever since I can remember when I was a little girl full of curiosity, I enjoyed the thought of finding a buried treasure and thus set out on treasure hunts with my sisters. Depending on how big your imagination is, you can take yourself to exotic locations, around town, or in your very own backyard. Finding buried treasures is a fun activity to do on your own or in a group. In this activity, we will be finding a buried treasure near Castle Rock with Ahmed and Vanessa. The assignment reads; Buried treasure. Ahmed has half of a treasure map, which indicates that the treasure is buried in the desert 2x + 6 paces from Castle Rock. Vanessa has the other half of the map. Her half indicates that to find the treasure, one must get to Castle Rock, walk x paces to the north, and then walk 2x + 4 paces to the east. If they share their information, then they can find x and save a lot of digging. What is x? (Dugopolski, 2012, p. 371) In this problem, we will use the Pythagorean Theorem which says that when a triangle has a right angle of 90 degrees, and squares are made on each of the three sides, then the biggest square has the exact same area as the other two squares put together. The Pythagorean Theorem can be written as: a^2 + b^2 = c^2 with “c” being the longest side or otherwise called the hypotenuse of the triangle, and “a” and “b” are the...
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...Pythagorean Quadratic Diane Todd MAT 221 Introduction to Algebra Instructor Alicia Davis September 29, 2013 Treasure hunts have always been a big deal in our home. Having raised five boys, anything to do with an adventure was exciting. Actually, this past June I planned one of my grandsons birthday parties around the theme of pirates and treasure hunting. I had never considered the math that went behind the maps in which I made up. Needless to say, when I saw the question entitled “buried treasure” in our math book, it brought back numerous memories. Ahmed has half of a treasure map, which indicates that the treasure is buried in the desert 2x + 6 paces from Castle Rock. Vanessa has the other half of the map. Her half indicates that to find the treasure, one must get to Castle Rock, walk x paces to the north, and then walk 2x + 4 paces to the east. If they share their information, then they can find x and save a lot of digging. What is x? Even though Ahmed’s half of the map does not tell him which direction the 2x + 6 paces should go, Ahmed can assume that his and Vanessa’s paces should end up in the same place. If I sketch out this scenario on paper, I see that I have a right triangle with 2x + 6 being the length of the hypotenuse, and 2x + 4 being the legs of the triangle. I now can use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve for x. The Pythagorean Theorem states that in every right triangle with legs of length a and b and hypotenuse of c, these...
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