This skill teaches how to calculate the distance between two points on a Cartesian grid that lie at an angle to the axes. Using the changes in the x and y coordinates, one forms a right triangle and applies the Pythagorean theorem to find the distance (hypotenuse).
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Cartesian grid distance at an angle
Test your understanding of cartesian grid distance at an angle by practicing it! Work through the below exercises to use it in practice.
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What is the distance between these two points?
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Let's draw them on a grid to understand them a bit better. We can see they are at an angle to the grid.
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We know that 'X' changes by 3 so the horizontal line is length 3
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We know that 'Y' changes by 4 so the vertical line is length 4
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So we have a right triangle with sides 3 and 4. We can calculate the hypotenuse length using pythagoras. 3 squared plus 4 squared is 25, and the root of 25 is 5, so the distance between the points is 5.