I had to find the distance between to locations on a graph which I did using the distance formula I got sqrt281 from point a (-6,3) point b (10,9). The problem is each unit is approximately 1/8 of a mile. Now what? Round your answer to the nearest tenth of a mile. My thought was to square 281 then divide by 1/8? It does seem right tho?
To find the distance between two points on a graph, you did the correct first step by using the distance formula. However, squaring 281 and dividing by 1/8 is not the correct approach.
To convert the distance in units to miles, you need to multiply the distance by the conversion factor, which is the length of one unit in miles (1/8 mile in this case).
Here are the steps to follow:
1. Calculate the distance between points A and B using the distance formula.
Distance formula: √[(x2 - x1)^2 + (y2 - y1)^2]
Given points A (-6, 3) and B (10, 9):
Distance = √[(10 - (-6))^2 + (9 - 3)^2]
= √[16^2 + 6^2]
= √(256 + 36)
= √292
≈ 17.088
2. Multiply the calculated distance by the conversion factor to get the distance in miles.
Distance in miles = 17.088 * (1/8)
≈ 2.136 miles
3. Finally, round the result to the nearest tenth.
Rounded distance = 2.1 miles
Therefore, the distance between points A and B on the graph is approximately 2.1 miles.