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| The line from the point (5,5) to (5,1) has length 4
units. We can just subtract 5 -1= 4 or in other word (y2-y1) |
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| The line from the point (2,1) to (5,1) has length 4
units. We can just subtract 5 - 2 = 3 or in other word (x2-x1) |
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By the theorem pythagoras we know that the hypoteneuse2=sum of squares of other two sides. (Pythagoras theorem examples) |
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In the diagram we can see that one of the sides
is the difference in the height of the point =y2-y1 The other side is the difference in the distance across =x2-x1 |
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| So the side or the hypoteneuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other 2 sides | ||
| hyp2 = (x2-x1)2 + (y2-y1)2 | ||
| Therefore if we get the square root of both sides we get the distance formula. | ||
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Exercise |
