Question

Brad and Barb are trying to find the length of a line segment connecting two points, (x1, y1) and (x2, y2). Brad uses the formula d = (x2 - x1)2 + (y2 - y1)2 . Barb uses a different formula, but still gets the right answer. Which formula COULD she have used?

Answer 1

Answer: √ (x1 - x2)^2 + (y1 - y2)^2

Step-by-step explanation: √ (x1 - x2)^2 + (y1 - y2)^2 is correct. Since the two binomials are being squared, the order of the terms does not matter.

Answer 2

Because they're going to be squared the order doesn't matter so the answer would be

`\sqrt{(x1-x2) ^(2) + (y1-y2)^2 }`