Distance Between Two Locations Calculator

Haversine Formula:

\[ \text{dist} = \arccos(\sin(\text{lat1}) \times \sin(\text{lat2}) + \cos(\text{lat1}) \times \cos(\text{lat2}) \times \cos(\text{lon2}-\text{lon1})) \times \text{r\_earth} \]

Latitude 1:

radians

Longitude 1:

radians

Latitude 2:

radians

Longitude 2:

radians

Earth Radius:

Distance:

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1. What is the Haversine Formula?

The Haversine formula calculates the great-circle distance between two points on a sphere given their longitudes and latitudes. It's particularly useful for calculating distances between locations on Earth.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the Haversine formula:

\[ \text{dist} = \arccos(\sin(\text{lat1}) \times \sin(\text{lat2}) + \cos(\text{lat1}) \times \cos(\text{lat2}) \times \cos(\text{lon2}-\text{lon1})) \times \text{r\_earth} \]

Where:

\( \text{lat1}, \text{lat2} \) — Latitude of points 1 and 2 (in radians)
\( \text{lon1}, \text{lon2} \) — Longitude of points 1 and 2 (in radians)
\( \text{r\_earth} \) — Radius of the Earth (default 6371 km)

Explanation: The formula accounts for the spherical shape of the Earth to provide accurate distance calculations between two points.

3. Importance of Distance Calculation

Details: Accurate distance calculations between geographic locations are crucial for navigation, logistics, mapping applications, and various scientific calculations.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter latitude and longitude values in radians for both locations. The Earth radius defaults to 6371 km (mean Earth radius) but can be adjusted if needed.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: How do I convert degrees to radians?
A: Multiply degrees by π/180 (approximately 0.0174533).

Q2: What's the accuracy of this calculation?
A: The formula provides good accuracy for most purposes, though it assumes a perfect sphere (Earth is actually an oblate spheroid).

Q3: What's the maximum distance this can calculate?
A: The formula works for any distance on Earth's surface, up to half the circumference (~20,037.5 km).

Q4: Are there alternatives to this formula?
A: Yes, the Vincenty formula is more accurate but more computationally intensive.

Q5: Why use radians instead of degrees?
A: Trigonometric functions in most programming languages expect radians, though you could convert in the calculation.