Pythagorean Theorem Word Problems

Lisa drives her car 46 km south and then 13 km east. How far is she from her starting point?

• 44.1 km

• 59 km

• 47.8 km

• 33 km

An airplane flies 56 miles due north and then 33 miles due east. How many miles is the plane from its starting point?

• 65 miles

• 89 miles

• 45.4 miles

• We don't have enough information.

The bottom of a ladder must be placed 3 feet from the wall. The ladder is 12 feet long. How far above the ground, does the ladder touch the wall?

John leaves school to go home. He walks 6 blocks North and then 8 blocks west. How far is John from the school?

Donna's TV screen is 20 inches long. If the diagonal measures 25 inches, how long is the width of Donna's TV?

Jake plans to use a ramp to make it easier to move a piano out of the back of his truck. The back of the truck is 83 centimeters tall and the ramp is 158 centimeters long. What is the horizontal distance from the end of the ramp to the back of the truck?

Steve is turning half of his backyard into a chicken pen. His backyard is a 24 meter by 45 meter rectangle. He wants to put a chicken wire fence that stretches diagonally from one corner to the opposite corner. How many meters of fencing will Steve need?

Two joggers run 12 miles north and then 16 miles west. What is the shortest distance to reach their starting point?

A soccer field is a rectangle 90 meters wide and 120 meters long. The coach asks players to run from one corner to the other corner diagonally across the field. How far do the players run?

• 105 meters

• 79.4 meters

• 210 meters

• 150 meters

The diagonal of a rectangle is 25 inches. The width is 15 inches. What is the area of the rectangle?

• 375 in²

• 70 in²

• 300 in²

• 20 in²