Definition:Euclidean Metric/Real Number Plane

Definition

Let $\R^2$ be the real number plane.

The Euclidean metric on $\R^2$ is defined as:

$\displaystyle d_2 \left({x, y}\right) := \sqrt{\left({x_1 - y_1}\right)^2 + \left({x_2 - y_2}\right)^2}$

where $x = \left({x_1, x_2}\right), y = \left({y_1, y_2}\right) \in \R^2$.

Also known as

The Euclidean metric is sometimes also referred to as the usual metric.

Also see

• Definition:Euclidean Metric/Real Vector Space

• Results about the Euclidean metric can be found here.

Source of Name

This entry was named for Euclid.

Historical Note

Euclid himself did not in fact conceive of the Euclidean metric and its associated Euclidean Space and Euclidean norm.

They bear that name because the geometric space which it gives rise to is Euclidean in the sense that it is consistent with Euclid's fifth postulate.

Sources

• 1962: Bert Mendelson: Introduction to Topology ... (previous) ... (next): $\S 2.2$: Metric Spaces
• 1967: George McCarty: Topology: An Introduction with Application to Topological Groups ... (previous) ... (next): $\text{III}$: Pythagoras' Theorem
• 1975: W.A. Sutherland: Introduction to Metric and Topological Spaces ... (previous) ... (next): $2.2$: Examples: Examples $2.2.3$
• 1999: Theodore W. Gamelin and Robert Everist Greene: Introduction to Topology (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $\S 1.1$: Open and Closed Sets