The Distance Formula...Revealed!

To find the distance between two points, use the distance formula. The distance formula is based on the Pythagorean Theorem. The Pythagorean Theorem is used to find the hypotenuse of a right triangle.

Now let's graph this same triangle on a coordinate plane. The distance of the two sides are x-coordinates and y-coordinates subtracted. Plugging this into the Pythagorean Theorem results in the distance formula.

I hope you find this helpful (and readable). It is difficult to type math equations, so I have started writing on graph paper with Sharpie. Let me know if this is okay, or if you have other suggestions.