Distance Command

Distance[ <Point>, <Object> ]

Yields the shortest distance between a point and an object.

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• Distance[(2, 1), x^2 + (y - 1)^2 = 1] yields 1

Note: The command works for points, segments, lines, conics, functions and implicit curves. For functions it uses a numerical algorithm which works better for polynomials.

Distance[ <Line>, <Line> ]

Yields the distance between two lines.

Example:

• Distance[y = x + 3, y = x + 1] yields 1.41
• Distance[y = 3x + 1, y = x + 1] yields 0

Note: The distance between intersecting lines is 0. Thus, this command is only interesting for parallel lines.

Note: See also Distance or Length tool .