Answer:
<em>The order of subtraction is not important in any of the coordinates</em>
Step-by-step explanation:
Distance Between Two Points
Given two points (x1,y2) (x2,y2), the distance between them is given by the formula
![d=\sqrt{(x_2-x_1)^2+(y_2-y_1)^2}](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=d%3D%5Csqrt%7B%28x_2-x_1%29%5E2%2B%28y_2-y_1%29%5E2%7D)
The difference between both coordinates is squared, then added, and finally extracted the square root.
Based on the principle that
![a*a=a^2](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=a%2Aa%3Da%5E2)
and also
![(-a)(-a)=a^2](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=%28-a%29%28-a%29%3Da%5E2)
We can notice it doesn't matter the sign of a the square of a is always positive. If we had subtracted in the opposite way, the distance would have resulted in exactly the same. In other words, the above formula is exactly the same as
![d=\sqrt{(x_1-x_2)^2+(y_1-y_2)^2}](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=d%3D%5Csqrt%7B%28x_1-x_2%29%5E2%2B%28y_1-y_2%29%5E2%7D)
As seen, it applies for both coordinates