In football

In football, the path that a defender must run to tackle the ball carrier is called the path of pursuit. If the ball carrier runs 40 yards to the end zone and the path of pursuit is 45 yards; how far apart were the ball carrier and defender when they started? Answer with appropriate precision.

Final Answer:

a =  20.6 yd

Step-by-step explanation:

$$\begin{gathered} b=40\text{yd} \\ c=45\text{yd} \\ {c}^2=a^2+b^2 \\ a=\sqrt{c^2-b^2}=\sqrt{45^2-40^2}=5\sqrt{17}=20.6\text{yd} \end{gathered}$$

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