Definition:Euclidean Metric/Real Number Plane
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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
- 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