Q. 125
Question
In Example 6, we found that the distance between Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Glasgow, Montana, is approximately 903 miles. According to mapquest.com, the distance is approximately 1300 miles. What might account for the difference?
Step-by-Step Solution
VerifiedThe given internet site gives the exact distance between Glasgow and Albuquerque.
In Example 6, we found that the distance between
Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Glasgow, Montana, is
approximately 903 miles.
But According to mapquest.com, the distance is approximately 1300 miles.
We have to find the differences.
When we calculated the distance between Glasgow and Albuquerque in Example 6, we
calculated their air distance (i.e. the shortest distance) - that is, the length of the arc between two cities lying on the same circle.
We did not take into account that there is no direct road to these two cities (a road may not have been built on that arc because a house, a shopping center, a museum, a school were built there. Or there is a forest, a lake...)
Mapquest.com shows the actual route from one city to another (the site is careful if there
are one-way streets, etc ..)
That is, the given internet site calculates how many miles a vehicle
travels by road (or highway) from one city to another.