Distance between two points worksheets

There is no new theorem on these sheets — only a new place to notice the old one. Two points on a grid make a right triangle nobody has drawn yet, and the line between them is its longest side.

Distance between two points
Distance between two points worksheet — Whole-number distances, free printable with answer key

The answer key prints on a separate page.

What's on this sheet

The figure shows the two points and the line joining them, and deliberately nothing else. Seeing that the horizontal and vertical gaps form a right triangle IS this standard; a picture that draws those two sides in has answered its own question and left an arithmetic exercise behind. The step-by-step walk adds them one at a time, which is where they belong.

Why this sheet works

That also means the distance formula does not need to be memorized as a fourth thing. It is a² + b² = c² with the two legs written as subtractions, and a child who has been taught it as its own formula has been given something extra to forget. Every walk here says the theorem out loud rather than quoting the formula.