Final answer:
The vertical distance from the origin to the point (1,4) is 4 units, as it corresponds to the y-coordinate of the point.
Step-by-step explanation:
The vertical distance from the origin to the point (1,4) is simply the y-coordinate of the point because the origin is at (0,0) and the vertical distance measures how far a point is above or below the origin along the y-axis. In this case, the vertical distance is 4 units because the y-coordinate of the point (1,4) is 4. This is similar to how you measure altitude or the vertical component in a displacement vector in physics.