Circle of a sphere Circle of a sphere A circle of a sphere is a circle that lies on a sphere. Such a circle can be formed as the intersection of a sphere and a plane, or of two spheres. A circle on a sphere whose plane passes through the center of the sphere is called a great circle; otherwise it is a small circle. Circles of a sphere have radius less than or equal to the sphere radius, with equality when the circle is a great circle. In the geographic coordinate system on a globe, the parallels of latitude are such circles, with
Distance from a point to a line has coordinates: Horizontal and vertical lines In the general equation of a line, "ax" + "by" + "c" = 0, "a" and "b" cannot both be zero unless "c" is also zero, in which case the equation does not define a line. If "a" = 0 and "b" 0, the line is horizontal and has equation "y" = -"c"/"b". The distance from ("x", "y") to this line is measured along a vertical line segment of length |"y" - (-"c"/"b")| = |"by" + "c"| / |"b"| in accordance with the formula. Similarly, for vertical lines ("b" = 0) the distance between