Find the distance between points (-2,1) and (1,5)
When finding the distance between these 2 points would you subtract 1-(-2) or -2-1? The same question with the other one as well.
In answer to your question, you can do it either way, because the numbers get squared anyway.
sqrt[(5-1)^2 + (1 -(-2))^2] = sqrt[16 + 9) = 5
Would it matter in any other case though???
Yes, it matters if you want the slope of the line between the points. Then you must use either
(y2 = y1)/(x2 - x1) or (y1 - y2)/(x1 - x2).
But if you're not trying to find the slope it wouldn't matter right?
For the distance between points, it doesn't matter.
Alrighty! Thanks so much! (:
To find the distance between two points, say (x1, y1) and (x2, y2), you can use the distance formula:
d = sqrt((x2 - x1)^2 + (y2 - y1)^2)
In this case, we have point A (-2, 1) and point B (1, 5). So, you can substitute the values into the formula as follows:
d = sqrt((1 - (-2))^2 + (5 - 1)^2)
To answer your question, you subtract the x-coordinates and y-coordinates in the formula. It doesn't matter whether you subtract x2 - x1 or x1 - x2, as long as you are consistent with the order you choose. Similarly, you can choose either y2 - y1 or y1 - y2.
So, using either order:
d = sqrt((3)^2 + (4)^2)
d = sqrt(9 + 16)
d = sqrt(25)
d = 5
Therefore, the distance between the points (-2, 1) and (1, 5) is 5 units.