To solve this problem, you need to find the distance east and north that he travels. Since he goes directly east and then directly north, his path forms a right angle, which in turn is part of a right triangle. His straight-line distance to school is the hypotenuse of the right triangle formed by his paths. Although statement (1) gives you the hypotenuse, you do not know enough information to solve for the other sides. Statement (2) gives the relationship between the two legs of the right triangle, but again this is not enough information. Using the information from both statements, you can write an equation using the Pythagorean theorem: a2+b2=c2. Let x= the distance he travels east and x+7= the distance he travels north. x2+(x+7)2=172. This equation can now be solved for the missing legs and therefore the solution to the problem.