Question

Explain the steps in finding the midpoint of the points (-1,2) and (3,-6).Then state what the midpoint is.

Answer 1

(1,-2)

1) Since we have 2 points we can plug them into this formula that tells us where the midpoint is:

$M=(\frac{x_1+x_2}{2},\text{ }\frac{y_1+y_2}{2})$

2) Plugging them:

$\begin{gathered} (-1,2)\text{ and (3,-6)} \\ M=(\frac{-1+3}{2},\frac{2-6}{2}) \\ M=(\frac{2}{2},-\frac{4}{2}) \\ M=(1,-2) \end{gathered}$

So the midpoint is located using the average of each point in each end. Therefore, the midpoint of this line segment is at (1,-2)