How do you find the distance between (16,-6), (1,2)?

1 Answer
Jan 26, 2017

See the solution process below:

Explanation:

The formula for calculating the distance between two points is:

#d = sqrt((color(red)(x_2) - color(blue)(x_1))^2 + (color(red)(y_2) - color(blue)(y_1))^2)#

Substituting the value from the points in the problem gives:

#d = sqrt((color(red)(1) - color(blue)(16))^2 + (color(red)(2) - color(blue)(-6))^2)#

#d = sqrt((color(red)(1) - color(blue)(16))^2 + (color(red)(2) + color(blue)(6))^2)#

#d = sqrt(-15^2 + 8^2)#

#d = sqrt(225 + 64)#

#d = sqrt(289) = 17#