Distance Calculator

What is Distance?

We should define a distance first before discussing how to calculate distances. Distance is a metric that quantifies how far two objects or locations are from one another. You need two points to calculate the distance between them. Their spatial coordinates serve as a description of these points. Therefore, we require two coordinates specific to each point in 2D space.

Distance Formula

The distance formula is typically used to calculate the distance between two places. The Pythagorean theorem and the triangle construction are used to obtain the formula. The distance calculation is provided by

Distance, \( d = \sqrt{(x_2 – x_1)^2+(y_2 – y_1)^2} \)

Where

\( (x_1, y_1) \) – starting point

\( (x_2, y_2) \) – ending point

Distance between two points

You have two options for measuring the distance: across the x-axis and down the y-axis. Or you can use the distance formula calculator to determine the length of any line segment.

If you can mentally construct a right triangle using the diagonal as the hypotenuse, you will be using the coordinates of the two endpoints. Again, you can use our distance calculator to aid with your calculations.

Examples

Example 1: If (4, 2) and (6, 1) are two points, we can find the distance using the following steps.

Distance (d) \( = \sqrt{(6 – 4)^2+(1 – 2)^2} = \sqrt{(2)^2+(-1)^2} = \sqrt{5} \)

Distance: 2.2360679774998

Note: If both the points are at the origin, i.e. (0, 0) and (0, 0), then their distance will also be zero.

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