You can answer this by using Pythagoras theorem. Okay, let me draw this first.
2 miles
V
________________________
| |
| |
| | << 1.5 miles
|_______________________|
^ Assume this is the rectangle. The long side is 2 miles while the shorter side is 1.5 miles.
So, to get the shortest distance, let's cut out a triangle from the rectangle.
/|
/ |
/ |
What we want to find is this one > / | << 2 miles
/ |
/______|
^ 1.5 miles (I know the size is not logical,but imagine it please)
So to get the diagonal length = [tex] \sqrt{{a^{2} }+ b^{2}} [/tex]
= [tex] \sqrt{{2^{2} }+ 1.5^{2}} [/tex]
= 2.5 miles
To calculate how much shorter = ( 2 miles + 1.5 miles) - 2.5 miles
= 3.5 miles - 2.5 miles
= 1.0 miles
Hope this help !
