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).

Dec 3, 2025 · 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. …

Joseph Howlett, Quanta Magazine, 3 Mar. 2025 In fact, for curved spaces, the shortest path is what’s known as a geodesic: the generalization of a straight, flat line to a curved space.

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 …

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

GEODESIC definition: 1. relating to the shortest possible line between two points on a sphere or other curved surface 2…. Learn more.

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 …