What Is Distance Formula?
The distance formula finds the straight-line distance between two points, (x₁,y₁) and (x₂,y₂), using √((x₂−x₁)² + (y₂−y₁)²). It's really just the Pythagorean theorem applied to a coordinate plane, treating the horizontal and vertical gaps between the points as the two legs of a right triangle.
Example
The distance between (0, 0) and (3, 4) is √((3−0)² + (4−0)²) = √(9+16) = √25 = 5.