Answer:
The order of subtraction is not important in any of the coordinates
Step-by-step explanation:
Distance Between Two Points
Given two points (x1,y2) (x2,y2), the distance between them is given by the formula
[tex]d=\sqrt{(x_2-x_1)^2+(y_2-y_1)^2}[/tex]
The difference between both coordinates is squared, then added, and finally extracted the square root.
Based on the principle that
[tex]a*a=a^2[/tex]
and also
[tex](-a)(-a)=a^2[/tex]
We can notice it doesn't matter the sign of a the square of a is always positive. If we had subtracted in the opposite way, the distance would have resulted in exactly the same. In other words, the above formula is exactly the same as
[tex]d=\sqrt{(x_1-x_2)^2+(y_1-y_2)^2}[/tex]
As seen, it applies for both coordinates
