4.7k views
4 votes
How to find the distance between (3,-2) and (9,2) using pythagorean theorum?

1 Answer

4 votes
If you imagine the two points on a grid, the difference between their x coordinates is 6 (9-3) and the distance between their y coordinates is 4 (|-2-2|).

In the Pythagorean theorem (a
a^(2)+ b^(2) = c^(2), these would count for the values of a and b, respectively (the legs of the triangle).

So, to find the hypotenuse, which is the distance between the points, square 6 and 4 to get 36 and 16, and find their sum: 52. 52, therefore, is the hypotenuse squared. So, find the square root of 52 to get
√(52), or ~7.2111 (exact form:
2 √(13))

From this is derived the distance formula,

\sqrt{ ( x_(2)- x_(1) )^(2)+ ( y_(2)- y_(1) )^(2) }
User Agirault
by
8.3k points

Related questions

asked Feb 1, 2024 199k views
Hargrovm asked Feb 1, 2024
by Hargrovm
8.2k points
1 answer
5 votes
199k views
asked Apr 6, 2024 83.2k views
Alexej Magura asked Apr 6, 2024
by Alexej Magura
8.1k points
1 answer
5 votes
83.2k views