Question

Find the distance between the origin and the points (-8,4)​

Answer 1

Hi, I'm happy to help!

To solve this, we need to find the distance from the origin to the y coordinate value, x coordinate value, then use the Pythagorean Theorem.

The origin of a graph (center) has the coordinates (0,0), so this will be our other coordinates.

First, let's find the x coordinate distance change. We move from the x coordinate 0, to the x coordinate -8, so we move 8 x units.

Next, let's find the y coordinate distance change. We move from the y coordinate 0, to the y coordinate 4, so we move 4 y units.

Now that we have these two leg lengths, let's imagine this as a right triangle. Moving from the origin, we draw a line from (0,0), to (-8,0). Then, we draw a line from (-8,0) to (-8,4). Now, draw a direct line from (0,0), to (-8,4). We have the length of the first(8) and second(4) lines, and we need to find the third line length to find our answer. To do this, we use the Pythagorean Theorem, which states that a²+b²=c². This says that, in a right triangle, the square of the two shorter lengths equals the square of the longest length. The longest length is what we are solving for.

Let's say x distance is a, and y distance is b. Now, apply the values:

8²+4²=c²

64+16=c²

80=c²

Now, we need to find the value of c, so we need to find the square root of 80.

√80=c

8.9442...=c

Since the number goes on forever, we need to round it. For this example, let's round it to the nearest tenth, which would be 8.9.

To summarize the distance between the origin and the coordinates (-8,4), is about 8.9.

I hope this was helpful, keep learning! :D