Answer:
The length of a line segment conecting points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) is
[tex]L=\sqrt[]{(x_2-x_1)^2+(y_2-y_1)^2}[/tex]The formula for calculating the coordinates of a midpoint is
[tex]M=(\frac{x_1+x_2}{2},\frac{y_1+y_2}{2})[/tex]The formula for the length of the line segment and the midpoint are different in the following manner.
The formula for the length of the line segment gives you a length.
The formula for coordinates of the midpoint gives you an ordered pair, the location of a point.
The two formulas are similar in that they both use the coordinates of two points to find the quantities desired ( length and location).