Distance between two points. Assume that we have two points x_1 y_1 and x_2 y_2 then the distance formula is. The Distance Formula itself is actually derived from the Pythagorean Theorem which is a2 b2 c2 where c is the longest side of a right triangle also known as the hypotenuse and a and b are the other shorter sides known as the legs of a right triangle.
Given the two points x 1 y 1 and x 2 y 2 the distance d between these points is given by the formula.
Youll use the following formula to determine the distance d or length of the line segment between the given coordinates. Draw two lines parallel to both x-axis and y-axis as shown in the figure through P and Q. The distance formula is Distance x 2 x 1 2 y 2 y 1 2. Let Px1 y1 and Qx2 y2 be the coordinates of two points on the coordinate plane.