It is named after the German mathematician Hermann Minkowski. If the coordinates of the two points are x1 y1 and x2 y2 the distance equals the square root of x2 x1 squared y2 y1 squared. In physics or everyday usage distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria eg.
For example you might want to find the distance between two points on a line 1d two points in a plane 2d or two points in space 3d.
This is called the Distance Formula. Find the distance between -1 1 and 3 4. Since this is the distance between two points well need to use the distance formula. In physics or everyday usage distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria eg.