Mary and Benjamin are driving to their friend Paul’s house for a birthday party. Mary drives nine miles north and six miles east to get there, While Benjamin drives three miles south and seven miles west. How far does Mary live from Benjamin?
let Paul's house be at the origin of a coordinate grid. then Mary lives at (-6,-9) and Benjamin lives at (7,3). using the distance formula for these two points gives us d=√(-6-7)² + (-9-3)². d=√169+144 or√313 miles, or about 17.69 miles.
