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The great-circle distance, orthodromic distance, or spherical distance is the distance between two points on a sphere, measured along the great-circle arc between them. This arc is the shortest path between the two points on the surface of the sphere. (By comparison, the shortest path passing through the sphere's interior is the chord between ...
The shortest distance between two points in plane is a Cartesian straight line. The Pythagorean theorem is used to calculate the distance between points in a plane. Even over short distances, the accuracy of geographic distance calculations which assume a flat Earth depend on the method by which the latitude and longitude coordinates have been ...
In the original sense, a geodesic was the shortest route between two points on the Earth's surface. For a spherical Earth , it is a segment of a great circle (see also great-circle distance ). The term has since been generalized to more abstract mathematical spaces; for example, in graph theory , one might consider a geodesic between two ...
Great-circle navigation. Great-circle navigation or orthodromic navigation (related to orthodromic course; from Ancient Greek ορθός (orthós) 'right angle' and δρόμος (drómos) 'path') is the practice of navigating a vessel (a ship or aircraft) along a great circle. Such routes yield the shortest distance between two points on the globe.
On a plane surface this would be the shortest distance between two points. Over the Earth's surface at low latitudes or over short distances it can be used for plotting the course of a vehicle, aircraft or ship. [1] Over longer distances and/or at higher latitudes the great circle route is significantly shorter than the rhumb line between the same
The distance between two points 1 degree apart on the same circle of latitude, measured along that circle of latitude, is slightly more than the shortest distance between those points (unless on the equator, where these are equal); the difference is less than 0.6 m (2 ft).
A geodesic is the shortest path between two points on a curved surface, analogous to a straight line on a plane surface. The solution of a triangulation network on an ellipsoid is therefore a set of exercises in spheroidal trigonometry (Euler 1755). If the Earth is treated as a sphere, the geodesics are great circles (all of which are closed ...
The shorter of the two great-circle arcs between two distinct points on the sphere is called the minor arc, and is the shortest surface-path between them. Its arc length is the great-circle distance between the points (the intrinsic distance on a sphere), and is proportional to the measure of the central angle formed by the two points and the ...