What is the shortest distance between points (-2, 1) and (2,-2)?
Choose the correct choice from the following choices.
A) 1  B) 2  C) 3  D) 4  E) 5
The shortest distance between any two points is a line.   Points are written in the (x,y) format, where x is the x-coordinate and y is the y-coordinate.   Calculate the difference between the x and y values of each coordinate.   Difference between y values = 1 - (-2) = 1 + 2= 
<gadget id="calculator">1 + 2</gadget>
<output>3</output>
3   Difference between x values= (-2) - 2 = -4   If you start at (2, -2) and travel over -4 units (i.e., travel to the left) and then travel straight up 3 units, you will end up at (-2, 1). This sketches out a right triangle, where the hypotenuse is the length of the shortest distance between the two points (i.e., a straight line between the two points).   Use the Pythagorean Theorem with a = -4 and b = 3 to solve for this distance between the two points.   a2+ b2 = c2   (-4)2+ 32 = c2   Solve for c   16 + 9 = c2   25 = c2   c = 5 (Negative 5 cannot be a solution to a length so it is discarded)   Answer is 5
<result>E</result>
What is the shortest distance between points (-2, 1) and (2,-2)?