So essentially these people have made a right triangle. The hypotenuse is going to be the distance from Bill to Ron.
Let's abbreviate B for Bill, J for John, and R for Ron.
J -> R = 30 yds
J -> B = 40 yds
These two lengths are the legs of the right triangle.
B -> R = hypotenuse of the right triangle.
Let's find the distance from B to R using the Pythagorean Theorem:
[tex] 30^{2} + 40^{2} = c^{2} [/tex]
[tex]900+1,600= c^{2} [/tex]
[tex]2,500= c^{2} [/tex]
[tex] \sqrt{2500} = \sqrt{c^{2} } [/tex]
[tex]c=50[/tex]
We now know that the hypotenuse is 50 yds.
The question wants to know the distance from R -> B (50 yds) and B -> J (40 yds). Let's add those together to get the total distance the football traveled:
[tex]50+40=90 yds[/tex]
The football traveled 90 yds total.
