Definition:Distance between Point and Surface

Definition

Let $\SS$ be a surface, which may or may not be a plane.

Let $P$ be a point not on $\SS$.

The distance between $P$ and $\SS$ is the length of the shortest straight line segment that can be constructed between $\SS$ and $P$.

Also see

• Definition:Perpendicular Distance between Point and Plane

• Results about distance between point and surface can be found here.

Sources

• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): distance: 1.
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): distance: 1.