Question

What is the distance between the origin and the point (5,-19)?

Answer 1

Using the distance formula with the two points (0,0) (5, -19)
\[d=\sqrt((x_{1}-x_{2})^{2}+(y_{1}-y_{2})^{2})= \sqrt((5^{2}+(-19)^{2})= \sqrt386 = 19.6\]

Answer 2

Imagine the line from your origin to your point as a hypotenuse of a right triangle.

Answer 3

Draw a picture of the graph. Use the fact that the x and y axis are perpendicular to create a right triangle with the x distance between the points as one leg, the y distance between the points as the other and the actual distance as the hypotenuse. Distance formula doesn't teach you anything.