Distance on the Coordinate Plane

Distance on the Coordinate Plane

8th Grade · Math · 45 min

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Learning Objective

I can apply the Pythagorean Theorem to find the distance between two points on a coordinate plane.

  • 1

    The distance between two points can be found by drawing a right triangle and using the Pythagorean theorem.

  • 2

    The general distance formula is d = √ (x₂ - x₁)² + (y₂ - y₁)² , where d is the distance between the points (x₁, y₁) and (x₂, y₂).

  • 3

    When using the distance formula, be careful to correctly substitute the values and remember that subtracting a negative number is the same as adding a positive number.