The shortest route between two points on the surface of a planet, when routes are limited to the planet's surface, is the arc of the great circle that connects the two points.
The shortest route between two points anywhere, without regard to intervening matter or energy preventing the route from being followed, is always the line connecting the two points.
what is the shortest distance between two places on earth?
The length light travels.
displacement is the vector quantity and the distance is scalar quantity, displacement is the shortest distance between two points.
Longitude and latitude are coordinates used to describe the location of points on the earth's surface. Since the planet Venus is not located on the earth's surface, its location can't be described by any combination of latitude and longitude.
Yes, if you are talking about two points on earth's surface. The great circle can be thought of as roughly similar to a circle of longitude, or to the equator. It is the largest circle on the globe that can be drawn containing the two points in question. Why is this important? Consider the fact that the larger a circle becomes, the closer a section of the circle resembles a straight line. If you imagine a circle that is infinitely large, you would not be able to distinguish a section of it from a straight line drawn between the end-points. So when you have drawn the largest circle you can that contains two points on earth, you have come as close as you can to approximating a straight line between them (without digging). To people who are not familiar with this idea, seeing a 'great circle route' drawn out on a Mercator projection seems impossible. Map projections have to sacrifice some important detail, because you cannot map a three-dimensional globe onto a two dimensional surface.
"Longitude" and "latitude" are the coordinates used primarily in the system of locating points on the earth's surface. Even when that generalization doesn't hold, they're only applicable to the location of points on the surface of another sphere. There's no way to use that kind of system to locate a planet.
Because a straight line up and zooms right off the surface of the earth. Since the earth is a sphere (ball) only curved lines can stay on the surface. The meridian may not be a straight line, but it's the shortest possible distance between its ends, and you can prove it: The ends of the meridian are the north and south poles. Take a globe and a rubber band. When you stretch a rubber band between two points, it always follows the shortest path. Stretch the rubber band between the north and south poles of the globe. Make sure it goes across Green Which, and you'll see that it exactly follows the Prime Meridian.
The two points and the centre of the earth define a plane, and the intersection of this plane with the surface of the earth is a circle - the "Great Circle". The shortest distance between the two points is the smaller of the two arcs on this circle.
Yes, on a plane surface (a flat sheet of paper, for example).
The shortest distance between any two points is called displacement.
actually, there is, depending on your definition of polygon, and your definition of a line segment. A line segment is the shortest path btwn two points, right? So take a sphere and pick any two points on that sphere. The shortest path between them on the surface of the sphere would be a "curve" along the surface, but it's the shortest path between the points, so it technally is a line segment. Take two of these line segments that intersect at two points, and there is your two sided polygon!
A Straight Line is always the shortest distance between two points.
In plane geometry, the shortest distance between two points is a line. In spherical geometry, the shortest distance between two points is a segment of a great circle. The distance between one point and another is known as the displacement.
The shortest distance between four points is a straight line to and from each individual point. If all four points are aligned, the result will be a single straight line through all four points.
a straight line
Nothing
a segment of a strate line
the shortest distance between two points.
rays