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 formula_19, and formula_20in terms of the coordinates of P and the coefficients of the equation of the line to get the indicated formula. Let "P" be the point with coordinates ("x", "y") and let the given line have equation "ax" + "by" + "c" = 0. Also, let "Q" = ("x", "y") be any point on this line and n the vector ("a", "b") starting at point "Q". The vector n is perpendicular to the line, and the distance "d" from point "P" to the line is equal to the length of the orthogonal projection of formula_21 on n. The