![]() His Cartesian grid combines geometry and algebra. To take us from his theorem of the relationships among sides of right triangles to coordinate grids, the mathematical world had to wait for René Descartes. ![]() Pythagoras was a generous and brilliant mathematician, no doubt, but he did not make the great leap to applying the Pythagorean theorem to coordinate grids. You are also able to relate the Distance Formula to the Pythagorean Theorem. ![]() Now that you have worked through the lesson and practice, you are able to apply the Distance Formula to the endpoints of any diagonal line segment appearing in a coordinate, or Cartesian, grid. You need not construct the other two sides to apply the Distance Formula, but you can see those two "sides" in the differences (distances) between x-values (a horizontal line) and y- values (a vertical line). The distance formula gets its precision and perfection from the concept of using the angled line segment as if it were the hypotenuse of a right triangle formed on the grid. You really should be able to take the last few steps by yourself. Here are the beginning steps, to help you get started:ĭ = ( 10 − ( − 2 ) ) 2 + ( 1 − 4 ) 2 D=\sqrt D = ( − 10 ) 2 + ( − 4 ) 2 We will not leave you hanging out on a diagonal. So, try these three practice problems! Distance Formula Examples You need not even have a coordinate grid in front of you to use the Distance Formula, so long as you have both sets of coordinate points. The Distance Formula squares the differences between the two x coordinates and two y coordinates, then adds those squares, and finally takes their square root to get the total distance along the diagonal line:ĭ ≈ 6.7085 D\approx 6.7085 D ≈ 6.7085 Distance formula examples You will be mentally constructing a right triangle, using the diagonal as if it were a hypotenuse. ![]() You can use the distance formula to calculate any line segment if you know the coordinates of the two endpoints. You can count the distance either up and down the y-axis or across the x-axis.īut what about diagonal lines? How can you know precisely how long the line segment is if it cuts across those tiny boxes? See this example: What is the distance formula between two points In a Cartesian grid, to measure a line segment that is either vertical or horizontal is simple enough. How it works: Type the two x coordinates and two y coordinates into the boxes below and it will automatically calculate the distance between those 2 points and show you step by step. ![]()
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