Find the distance between the points (5,0) and (-1,8)

Question

A) 4√5

B) √12

C) 6

D) √89

E) None of the above

Answer 1

There's another way to do this if you don't like formulas. Make a right triangle with the distance you want as the hypotaneus. The 8 in (-1,8) is the vertical; the 5 in (5,0) plus the (absolute value of) -1 is the horizontal of 6. See that the 6 and 8 are (2-times) variants of a 3-4-5 special right triangle so the distance you want is 2 times 5 or 10.

Answer 2

Hi Sara,

It looks like you need to apply the distance formula for 2 points here. The general form looks like this:

d = √((x₁-x₂)²+(y₁-y₂)²), where d is the distance, and your points are (x₁,y₁) and (x₂,y₂)

Let us now apply your specific points, (5,0) and (-1,8)

d = √((5-(-1))²+(0-8)²)

d = √ (6² + (-8)²)

d = √ (36+64)

d = √ (100) = 10

I hope this is helpful Sara! Good luck with your studies.