In Example 2, change (−2,−5) to (−2, 5).

Data from Example 2

The distance between (3,−1) and (−2,−5) is given by

[It makes no difference which point is chosen as (x₁ , y₁) and which is chosen as (x₂ , y₂), because the differences in the x-coordinates and the y-coordinates are squared.] We obtain the same value for the distance when we calculate it as

d = (-2) 3]+ [(-5) - (-1)] = 25 + 16 = (-5) + (-4) = 41 = 6.403