Finding distance between each pair of points. how to know which is x1 y1 and x2 y2 when using (x2-x1)^2 + (y2-y1)^2? people are saying it doesnt matter but wouldnt it be different if you answered it but switched them up?

It doesn't matter what order the coordinates are in the distance formula as long as it stays in it's corresponding order. In this case, (-7,5) could be (x1,y1) and (3,-5) could be (x2,y2) or vise versa, just as long as you don't mix up the coordinates (so no (-7,-5) or (3,5)). I'll demonstrate this below:

The distance between these points, no matter the order, is √200, or approximately 14.14 units.