Every seat in a movie theater can be named with two numbers — row and seat — and mathematicians do exactly that for the entire flat plane. In plain words, the coordinate plane is two number lines crossed at zero: walk right for positive x, up for positive y, and the pair (3, 4) names one exact point. The distance from the origin comes from the Pythagorean theorem applied to those coordinates: square each one, add them, and take the square root. For (3, 4) that is the square root of 9 + 16, which is 5. Students plotting homework points, game developers positioning sprites on screen, and warehouse managers mapping bin locations all speak in coordinates. Two numbers replace a whole paragraph of directions.

This calculator finds the origin distance. Type the x-coordinate into the Variable A box, say 3, and the y-coordinate into the Variable B box, say 4. Read the Result box for the straight-line distance from (0, 0): 5. Try −3 and −4 to confirm the distance stays 5, since squaring erases the signs — and remember the order, because (3, 4) and (4, 3) are different points.

With the pre-filled defaults — Variable A 10, Variable B 5 — the Graph Calculator returns Result 50.0000. Change any input and those results update instantly, so you can see exactly how each number you enter moves the answer.