Question

Whats the distance between (1,2) and (4,-2)

Answer 1

5 units

Explanation:

Distance formula:

`√((x2-x1)^2 + (y2-y1)^2)`

Square root of those quantities. x2 and x1 mean the x values from one coordinate and the other, and the same goes for the y-coordinates. So y2-y1 represents (-2) - (2) and x2-x1 = (4) - (1). The answers you get (-4 and 3, respectively), now have to be squared, then added together. So (-4)^2 = 16 and (3)^2 = 9. Add 16 and 9 together you get 25. Final answer, you square root 25 and you get 5. Technically the square root of 25 is both positive and negative 5, but you cannot get a negative number for distance in this case (vectors are different).