IQ test question

[shingle]

Bit bored this morning so took an online IQ test, this was one of the questions, can somebody tell me what is the answer and why. cheers chaps.



Two cars start off at the same point on a straight highway facing opposite directions. Each car drives for 6 miles, takes a left turn, and drives for 8 miles. How far apart are the two cars?

2 miles

11 miles

14 miles

20 miles

26 miles

 

[Zed Seagull]

20 miles

 

[seagullkev]

20 miles...i think

 

[shingle]

20 miles

why?

cheers

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

Pythagoras?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

It's Pythagoras innit?

 

[Barrow Boy]

why?

cheers

I cheated and did it using a ruler (half inch to 1 mile) if you measure the distance between the two final positions of the cars (as the crow flies) it's 10 inches therefore 20 miles.

 

[seagullkev]

2 cars drive 6 miles so end up 12 miles apart
then drive 8 miles in opposite directions to end up 16 miles apart in other direction....
12 squared & 16 squared = 400
square root of 400 = 20 miles

 

[Djmiles]

That was too easy!

 

[Lord Bracknell]

6 squared = 36
8 squared = 64
36+64 = 100

square root of 100 = 10

twice

10 + 10 = 20

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

6 squared = 36
8 squared = 64
36+64 = 100

square root of 100 = 10

twice

10 + 10 = 20

Can I have a consonant please Carol?

 

[Spearritt of the Albion]

Defo 20 miles

All to do with right-angled triangles and Pythagoras.

The quickest way back to where they started from is a diagonal line from where they are. If the left turn is 90 degrees then you have a 3 * 4 * 5 triangle (or in this case 6 * 8 * 10). It is shorter to take the diagonal route back to the start (10 miles rather than 14 (6+8)) so if they each have to travel 10 miles to get back to the start they are 20 miles apart.

Pythagoras said that the square of the hypotenuse (the diagonal) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. i.e. 10 squared (100) = 6 squared + 8 squared (36 + 64).

 

[imissworthing2]

i just tried to work it out with A squared + b squared = c squared but got 10miles as my answer so i,m stumped

 

[gothenburg_gull]

Well, according to:

http://bellsouthpwp.net/a/g/agent459/iqresult.pdf

To solve this problem, you may want to get a piece of scratch paper. Draw a
point on your paper that indicates the starting location of both cars. From here,
draw a line that is 6 units long in opposite directions from the starting point
(you decide what a unit is; if you used ? inch as your unit, the distance that on
car goes would be 1 ? inches). The line you end up with should be 12 units long
and straight. For the purposes of this example, let's say that line runs East-
West. From there, each car turns left and drives 8 miles (units). In this case,
one of the cars would have driven due north and the other would have driven
due south. Your illustration should look kind of like a "Z". Now you know the
location of each car.
To find out how far apart they are, use the Pythagorean Theorem, which says
that the square of the longest side (hypotenuse) of a right triangle is equal to
the sum of the squares of the other two sides. In this case, the distance
between the two points is the hypotenuse of a right triangle. The distance the
cars drove away from each other in the East-West direction was 12 miles, so
one side of the right triangle is 12 units long. The distance the cars drove away
from each other in the North-South direction was 16 miles, so the other side of
the right triangle is 16 units long. Plugging these values into the Pythagorean
Theorem, you should get:
12^2 + 16^2 = SQRT c
144 + 256 = SQRT c
400 = SQRT c
20 = c
The cars are 20 miles apart

Why did you do an IQ test?

 

[shingle]

Cheers Chaps

Mrs Shingle says thanks, it was er who didn't know it. Bloody thicko

 

[imissworthing2]

6 squared = 36
8 squared = 64
36+64 = 100

square root of 100 = 10

twice

10 + 10 = 20

never thought about doubling it.]

Well done

 

[shingle]

Well, according to:

http://bellsouthpwp.net/a/g/agent459/iqresult.pdf

To solve this problem, you may want to get a piece of scratch paper. Draw a
point on your paper that indicates the starting location of both cars. From here,
draw a line that is 6 units long in opposite directions from the starting point
(you decide what a unit is; if you used ? inch as your unit, the distance that on
car goes would be 1 ? inches). The line you end up with should be 12 units long
and straight. For the purposes of this example, let's say that line runs East-
West. From there, each car turns left and drives 8 miles (units). In this case,
one of the cars would have driven due north and the other would have driven
due south. Your illustration should look kind of like a "Z". Now you know the
location of each car.
To find out how far apart they are, use the Pythagorean Theorem, which says
that the square of the longest side (hypotenuse) of a right triangle is equal to
the sum of the squares of the other two sides. In this case, the distance
between the two points is the hypotenuse of a right triangle. The distance the
cars drove away from each other in the East-West direction was 12 miles, so
one side of the right triangle is 12 units long. The distance the cars drove away
from each other in the North-South direction was 16 miles, so the other side of
the right triangle is 16 units long. Plugging these values into the Pythagorean
Theorem, you should get:
12^2 + 16^2 = SQRT c
144 + 256 = SQRT c
400 = SQRT c
20 = c
The cars are 20 miles apart

Why did you do an IQ test?

Bit of a loose end. Scored 129


here's the link

The Classic IQ Test - Tickle Personality Tests

 

[Bad Ash]

Bit of a loose end. Scored 129

If you scored 129 then you really should know the answer to that one, it's pretty simple maths. And if you didn't, then you should have been able to google the answer rather than having to ask a message board.

IQ is pointless without some common sense...

 

[chez]

Defo 20 miles

All to do with right-angled triangles and Pythagoras.

The quickest way back to where they started from is a diagonal line from where they are. If the left turn is 90 degrees then you have a 3 * 4 * 5 triangle (or in this case 6 * 8 * 10). It is shorter to take the diagonal route back to the start (10 miles rather than 14 (6+8)) so if they each have to travel 10 miles to get back to the start they are 20 miles apart.

Pythagoras said that the square of the hypotenuse (the diagonal) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. i.e. 10 squared (100) = 6 squared + 8 squared (36 + 64).

Yeah, but Pythagoras was a knob.

 

[Bad Ash]

Yeah, but Pythagoras was a knob.

Fermat was a bigger knob.