Question

Clarksville lies due north of Johnstown. Center City lies due east of Johnstown.

A right triangle with three vertices labeled Clarksville, Center City, and Johnstown. The angle at Johnstown is marked with a square and is the vertex opposite the hypotenuse. The side between Clarksville and Johnstown is labeled 32.5 miles. The side between Johnstown and Center City is labeled 65 miles. The side between Clarksville and Center City is labeled x miles.

What does x represent?

the distance between Clarksville and Johnstown in miles
the distance between Clarksville and Center City in miles
the distance between Johnstown and Center City in miles
the square of the distance between Clarksville and Center City in square miles

Answer 1

Without even considering the lines, you can answer this.

The line is between Clarksville and Center City. The labels are not miles squared, they are just miles. It has to be the second one.

Not that anyone asked, but you can get the result:

a^2 = b^2 + c^2

a^2 = 32.5^2 + 65^2

a^2 = 1056.25 + 4225

a^2 = 5281.25

a @ 72.67