Answer
(a) $d=2\sqrt{10}$
(b) midpoint=$(1,-2)$
Work Step by Step
(a) We find the distance between the two points $(-2, -3)$ and $(4, -1)$ by using the distance formula:
(a) $d=\sqrt{(-2-4)^{2}+(-3--1)^{2}}=\sqrt{(-6)^{2}+(-2)^{2}}=\sqrt{36+4}=\sqrt{50}=2\sqrt{10}$
(b) We use the Midpoint Formula:
midpoint=$(\displaystyle \frac{-2+4}{2},\ \frac{-3+-1}{2})=(1,\ -2)$
