Mrs. Maxwell is teaching a 5th grade class. She is standing 9 meters in front of Bruce. Ruth is sitting to Bruce's right. If Ruth and Mrs. Maxwell are 15 meters apart, how far apart are Bruce and Ruth?

9514 1404 393

  12 m

Step-by-step explanation:

The distances of interest are the sides of a right triangle whose right angle is at Bruce. The hypotenuse of the triangle is the Teacher-Ruth distance. The unknown side (x) can be found using the Pythagorean theorem:

  x² + 9² = 15²

  x² = 225 -81 = 144

  x = √144 = 12

Bruce and Ruth are 12 meters apart.