SOLUTION: Find the midpoint of the line segment with endpoints (5,-2) and (-3,12).

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Question 89400: Find the midpoint of the line segment with endpoints (5,-2) and (-3,12).
Answer by jim_thompson5910(21685) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
In order to find the midpoint, we need to average each corresponding coordinate. In other words, we need to add up the corresponding coordinates and divide the sum by 2.


So lets find the averages between the two points
To find , average the x-coordinates between the two points
x%5Bmid%5D=%285%2B-3%29%2F2=%282%29%2F2=1


So the x-coordinate of the midpoint is 1 (i.e. x=1)
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To find , average the y-coordinates between the two points
y%5Bmid%5D=%28-2%2B12%29%2F2=%2810%29%2F2=5


So the y-coordinate of the midpoint is 5 (i.e. y=5)
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Answer:
Since the coordinates of the midpoint are x=1, y=5, this means the midpoint is (1,5)

Check:
Here is a graph to visually see the answer
drawing%28500%2C+500%2C+-5%2C+7%2C+-4%2C+14%2C%0D%0Agraph%28500%2C+500%2C+-5%2C+7%2C+-4%2C+14%2C0%29%2C%0D%0Ablue%28line%285%2C-2%2C-3%2C12%29%29%2C%0D%0Acircle%285%2C-2%2C0.05%29%2C%0D%0Acircle%285%2C-2%2C0.08%29%2C%0D%0Acircle%28-3%2C12%2C0.05%29%2C%0D%0Acircle%28-3%2C12%2C0.08%29%2C%0D%0Acircle%281%2C5%2C0.05%29%2C%0D%0Acircle%281%2C5%2C0.08%29%0D%0A%0D%0A%29 Graph of the line segment with the endpoints (5,-2) and (-3,12) with the midpoint (1,5)



We could visually verify our answer if we simply draw right triangles from each point like this:
drawing%28500%2C+500%2C+-5%2C+7%2C+-4%2C+14%2C%0D%0Agraph%28500%2C+500%2C+-5%2C+7%2C+-4%2C+14%2C0%29%2C%0D%0Ablue%28line%285%2C-2%2C-3%2C12%29%29%2C%0D%0A%0D%0Aline%285%2C-2%2C5%2C%28-2%2B12%29%2F2%29%2C%0D%0Aline%285%2C%28-2%2B12%29%2F2%2C1%2C5%29%2C%0D%0Aline%281%2C5%2C%285%2B-3%29%2F2%2C12%29%2C%0D%0Aline%28%285%2B-3%29%2F2%2C12%2C-3%2C12%29%2C%0D%0A%0D%0Acircle%285%2C-2%2C0.05%29%2C%0D%0Acircle%285%2C-2%2C0.08%29%2C%0D%0Acircle%28-3%2C12%2C0.05%29%2C%0D%0Acircle%28-3%2C12%2C0.08%29%2C%0D%0Acircle%281%2C5%2C0.05%29%2C%0D%0Acircle%281%2C5%2C0.08%29%0D%0A%0D%0A%29

Here we can see that the two triangles are congruent, so our answer is verified.