Why did you not just follow the instructions?
All you need is the distance formula between 2 points.
distance between the 2 points
= √((4-1)^2 + (a-2)^2 )
= √(a^2 - 4a + 13)
for #2, just set the two square roots equal to each other.
Simplify like I did above, then square both sides and solve for b
Let me know what you get
The problem has two related parts
1) let a be an arbitrary real number. Find the distance between the point (1,2) and the point (4,a). (answer should be an algebraic expression in terms of a).
2) find the value of b for which the point (0,b) is equidistant from (4,4) and (5,-4) (hint: find two different distances and set those distances equal
1 answer