Question

Find the distance between the points (-3, 2) and (4, -5).

√10
7√2
2√2

Answer 1

Plot the two points on a graph, and connect them. The line between the two is the distance you are looking for.

You can make a right-angle triangle by subtracting the x value of one point from the x value of another (this will be your horizontal component) and subtracting the y value of the first point from the y value of the second (this will be the vertical component).

Then solve for the hypotenuse of the triangle (the distance) using the Pythagorean theorem.

Answer 2

Or you could just use the distance formula which is:
\[d=\sqrt{(x _{2}-x _{1})^2+(y _{2}-y _{1})^2}\]

Answer 3

Yes, the distance formula is the best choice :)