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The distance between two points in physical space is the length of a straight line between them, which is the shortest possible path. This is the usual meaning of distance in classical physics, including Newtonian mechanics. Straight-line distance is formalized mathematically as the Euclidean distance in two-and three-dimensional space.
In mathematics, a metric space is a set together with a notion of distance between its elements, usually called points. The distance is measured by a function called a metric or distance function. [1] Metric spaces are the most general setting for studying many of the concepts of mathematical analysis and geometry.
The Euclidean distance is the prototypical example of the distance in a metric space, [10] and obeys all the defining properties of a metric space: [11] It is symmetric, meaning that for all points and , (,) = (,). That is (unlike road distance with one-way streets) the distance between two points does not depend on which of the two points is ...
It remains in use in parts of Latin America, where its exact meaning varies. Legua nautica (nautical league): Between 1400 and 1600 the Spanish nautical league was equal to four Roman miles of 4,842 feet, making it 19,368 feet (5,903 metres or 3.1876 modern nautical miles). However, the accepted number of Spanish nautical leagues to a degree ...
Distance light travels in one Julian year (365.25 days) — Oort cloud: 75 000: ± 25 000: Distance of the outer limit of Oort cloud from the Sun (estimated, corresponds to 1.2 light-years) — Parsec: 206 265 — One parsec. The parsec is defined in terms of the astronomical unit, is used to measure distances beyond the scope of the Solar ...
Lunar distance LD ≈ 384 402 km. [10] Average distance between the center of Earth and the center of the Moon. astronomical unit au. Defined as 149 597 870 700 m. [11] Approximately the distance between the Earth and Sun. light-year ly ≈ 9 460 730 472 580.8 km. The distance that light travels in a vacuum in one Julian year. [12]
Imagining an elongated right triangle in space, where the shorter leg measures one au (astronomical unit, the average Earth–Sun distance) and the subtended angle of the vertex opposite that leg measures one arcsecond (1 ⁄ 3600 of a degree), the parsec is defined as the length of the adjacent leg.
Many terms are used to refer to various notions of distance; these are often confusingly similar, and may be used inconsistently between authors and over time, either loosely or with precise technical meaning. In addition to "distance", similar terms include deviance, deviation, discrepancy, discrimination, and divergence, as well as others ...