Question

PLEASE HELP ASAP THIS IS THE LAST QUESTION AND I AM STUCK!!

On a coordinate plane, the coordinates of vertices R and T for a polygon are R(−6, 2) and T(1, 2). What is the length of Side RT of the polygon?

A) 4 units
B) 7 units
C) 8 units
D) 15 units

Answer 1

Answer: B) 7 units

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Step-by-step explanation:

The y coordinates of the two points are the same, so we can subtract the x coordinates and apply absolute value

|R - T| = |-6 - 1| = |-7| = 7

Or we can say

|T - R| = |1 - (-6)| = |1 + 6| = |7| = 7

Either way, the two points are 7 units apart.

You could use the distance formula to get the same answer, but that's definitely overkill in my opinion. The trick mentioned above also could work if the x coordinates were the same, but the y coordinates were different. In any other case, you would have to use the distance formula.