Problem on Distance Formula

The distance formula can be obtained by creating a triangle and using the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of the hypotenuse. The hypotenuse of the triangle will be the distance between the two points.

Lets see an example on this from college algebra tutorial


Find the distance between(-3,-2)and (1,7)

here we have

x1=-3 ,y1=-2 and x2=1 and y2=7


We know the distance formula

D= √(x₂-x₁)²+(y₂-y₁)²

x₂ and y₂ are the x,y coordinates for one point
x₁and y₁ are the x,y coordinates for the second point
d is the distance between the two points
one of the Discrete math Tutor is solving the above problem here

D =√(-3-1)²+(-2-7)²

= √ (-4)² +(-9)²

= √ 16 + 81

= 9.848

So the distance is 9.85 approximately