Question

Find the midpoint of the segment with the given endpoints (5,-9) and (-2,-2)

Answer 1

Another way to solve this is to use the Midpoint Formula.  The midpoint of a segment joining points $(x_1,y_1)$ and $(x_2,y_2)$ is

$\left(\frac{x_1+x_2}{2},\frac{y_1+y_2}{2} \right)$

So the midpoint of your segment is

$\left(\frac{5+(-2)}{2},\frac{-9+(-2)}{2}\right) = \left(\frac{3}{2},-\frac{11}{2} \right)$

Perhaps it helps to see that the x-coordinate of the midpoint is just the average of the x-coordinates of the points.  Ditto for the y-coordinate of the midpoint; just average the y's.