Question

Find the distance between A (-1, 9) and B (-4, 1). Leave your answer in exact radical form.

Answer 1

The distance between two points is given by the expression,

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

Plugging in our values,

`d \: = \sqrt{ {(1 - 9)}^(2) + {( - 4 - - 1)}^(2) } \\ d \: = \sqrt{ {( - 8)}^(2) + {( - 3)}^(2) } \\ d \: = √(64 + 9) \\ d = √(73)`

So, the distance between the points in it's exact radical form is

`√(73) \: units`