Final answer:
To find the distance between John and Sarah, use the distance formula in the Cartesian plane.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the distance between John and Sarah, we can use the distance formula in the Cartesian plane. The distance formula is given by:
d = sqrt((x2 - x1)^2 + (y2 - y1)^2)
Using the coordinates of John (-9, 2) and Sarah (5, -4), we can substitute the values into the formula:
d = sqrt((5 - (-9))^2 + (-4 - 2)^2)
d = sqrt(14^2 + (-6)^2)
d = sqrt(196 + 36)
d = sqrt(232)
d ≈ 15.23 units