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How to Find the Midpoint of a Line Segment

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2016-03-26 10:58:35
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Trigonometry For Dummies
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The middle of a line segment is its midpoint. To find the midpoint of a line segment, you just calculate the averages of the coordinates — easy as pie.

The midpoint, M, of a segment with endpoints (x1,y1) and (x2,y2) is

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If you want to know the midpoint of the segment with endpoints (–4,–1) and (2,5), then plug the numbers into the midpoint formula, and you get a midpoint of (–1,2):

image1.jpg

See how this segment looks in graph form in the following figure.

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Mary Jane Sterling (Peoria, Illinois) is the author of Algebra I For Dummies, Algebra Workbook For Dummies, Algebra II For Dummies, Algebra II Workbook For Dummies, and many other For Dummies books. She taught at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois for more than 30 years, teaching algebra, business calculus, geometry, and finite mathematics.