Given A(4,3) and B(-12,7): What is the distance between the two points?

Answer 1

Since x and y are measured in a perpendicular manner, you can construct a right triangle where one leg is parallel to the x-axis (and its length is the change in x between the two points) and the other leg is parallel to the y-axis (and its length is the change in x between the two points).

Given that triangle, you can use the pythagorean theorem, knowing the two legs, to determine the hypotenuse, which is the straight-line distance between the two points.

distance^2 = (x2-x1)^2 + (y2-y1)^2
distance^2 = (-12-4)^2 + (7-3)^2
distance^2 = 256 + 16
distance^2 = 272
distance = sqrt(272)

sqrt(272) =
sqrt(16*17) =
4 * sqrt(17)

The distance is 4 * sqrt(17), which is about 16.49 units.

Answer 2

use distance formula ........ square root of xsub1 minus xsub 2 squared , plus ysub1 minus ysub2 squared. im not sure. forogt lol