I have 2 parallel lines which are touching a rectangle.
I know the coordinates (x1,y1), (x2,y2), (x3,y3), (x4,y4)
How can I find with Mathematica from that the orthogonal distance between the lines?
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3 Answers
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As @yode points out MMA has clever built in functions like RegionDistance to help with problems like this.
However, in case speed is a requirement (if you had many such calculations to perform), you would certainly be better off in this instance implementing a mathematical solution:
ParallelLineDistance[{x1_, y1_}, {x2_, y2_}, {x3_, y3_}] :=
Module[{w, v},
w = {x3, y3} - {x1, y1};
v = {x2, y2} - {x1, y1};
Norm[w - v.w/Norm[v]^2 v]
]
Timings:
RepeatedTiming[
ParallelLineDistance[{x1, y1}, {x2, y2}, {x3, y3}]
]
{0.00001189, 297.274}
RepeatedTiming[
RegionDistance[InfiniteLine[{{x1, y1}, {x2, y2}}], {x3, y3}]
]
{0.00025, 297.274}
answered Oct 17, 2016 at 12:47
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$\begingroup$ Thank you very much. Why is your solution so much faster than
RegionDistance? $\endgroup$– lioCommented Oct 18, 2016 at 12:22 -
3$\begingroup$ In short because
RegionDistancecan handle many other much broader cases, and therefore likely has to do a lot of checking / pre-parsing of the problem - you'd have to ask others on the site here for the details if you're interested. Whereas simple algebra is about as quick as it gets. Note that if speed really is an issue then there may be faster ways still, especially in the context of evaluatingParallelLineDistanceover a list. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 13:05 -
$\begingroup$ By the way,
Projection[]is built-in... $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 18, 2016 at 15:16
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Manipulate[
Module[{mp = {x1, 1 + y1}/2, cp, ri},
cp = Cross[mp - {0, y1}];
ri = RegionIntersection[InfiniteLine[{mp, mp + cp}],
InfiniteLine[{{x3, 0}, {x3 + (1/(1 - y1)) x1, 1}}]];
Graphics[{Thickness[0.01], FaceForm[None], EdgeForm[Black],
Rectangle[],
Point[{{0, y1}, {x1, 1}, {x3, 0}, {x3 + (1/(1 - y1)) x1, 1}}],
Green, Line[{{0, y1}, {x1, 1}}], Red,
Line[{{x3, 0}, {x3 + (1/(1 - y1)) x1, 1}}], Blue,
Line[{mp, ri[[1]]}],
Text[Framed[Norm[mp - ri[[1]]],
Background -> White], (mp + ri[[1]])/2]},
AspectRatio -> Automatic]],
{x1, 0, 1}, {y1, 0, 1}, {x3, 0, 1}]
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A variation of the answer by Quantum_Oli
Your data:
x1=0.;y1=532.964;x2=950;y2=545.204;x3=0.;y3=235.665;x4=950;y4=247.905;
$\{\text{$\Delta $x},\text{$\Delta $y}\}$ from Point3 to the Point1
p3=Flatten@Differences[{{x3,y3},{x1,y1}}]
{0.,297.299}
$\{\text{$\Delta $x},\text{$\Delta $y}\}$ from Point2 to the Point1
p2=Flatten@Differences[{{x2,y2},{x1,y1}}]
{-950.,-12.24}
Distance between the lines
DistanceBetweenLines[w_,v_]:=Norm[w-v.w/Norm[v]^2 v]
DistanceBetweenLines[p3,p2]
297.274
answered Oct 28, 2016 at 20:31
RegionDistance[InfiniteLine[{{x1, y1}, {x2, y2}}], {x3, y4}]$\endgroup$x1 = 0.; y1 = 532.964; x2 = 950; y2 = 545.204; x3 = 0.; y3 = 235.665; x4 = 950; y4 = 247.905;$\endgroup$