Question

Taking the square root of which of the following expressions gives the length of the line segment shown?

32 + (-5)^2

42 + (-7)^2

(-7)2 - 4^2

Answer 1

the answer is 4^2 + 7^2, i had it on odyssey ware

Answer 2

4^2 + (-7)^2

Explanation:

The square of the distance is given by the distance formula as ...

d^2 = (x2 -x1)^2 + (y2 -y1)^2 = (3 -(-1))^2 + (-5-2)^2

= 4^2 +(-7)^2 . . . . . matches the second choice (sort of)

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Comment on notation

Clearly, you understand the use of the caret (^) to signify exponentiation. The number 42 is very different from the value of 4^2 = 16. A caret is required.