In the original sense, a geodesic was the shortest route between two points on the Earth's surface. For a spherical Earth, it is a segment of a great circle (see also great-circle distance).

Jan 29, 2026 · A geodesic is a locally length-minimizing curve. Equivalently, it is a path that a particle which is not accelerating would follow. In the plane, the geodesics are straight lines. …

2 days ago · A geodesic path for a hiker might involve a lot of ups and downs, but it’s still mathematically the "shortest" way to get from A to B without leaving the ground. How Your …

Illustrated definition of Geodesic: The shortest line segment between two points on a sphere or other curved surface. A Geodesic Dome is made with...

A geodesic is the shortest path between two points on a curved surface, such as a sphere. In the context of spherical geometry, geodesics are represented by great circles, which are the …

Definition: A geodesic in a curved space is a curve that locally minimizes distance. This means: It's the "straightest possible" path: If you were to zoom in on a small segment of the geodesic, …

The meaning of GEODESIC is geodetic. How to use geodesic in a sentence.

A geodesic, the shortest distance between any two points on a sphere, is an arc of the great circle through the two points. The formula for determining a sphere’s surface area is 4π r2; its …

In Euclidean geometry, a geodesic is simply a straight line between two points on a surface. In non-Euclidean geometry, a geodesic is typically described as a segment of a great circle. In …

A geodesic is a generalization of the notion of a “straight line” from a plane to a surface, on which it represents in some sense the shortest path between two points.