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Mathematics LibreTexts

15.2: Euclidean Space

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Let us repeat the construction of metric d2 in space.

Suppose that R3 denotes the set of all triples (x,y,z) of real numbers. Assume A=(xA,yA,zA) and B=(xB,yB,zB) are arbitrary points in R3. Define the metric on R3 the following way:

AB:=(xAxB)2+(yAyB)2+(zAzB)2.

The obtained metric space is called Euclidean space.

The subset of points in R3 is called plane if it can be described by an equation

ax+by+cz+d=0

for some constants a, b, c, and d such that at least one of values a, b or c is distinct from zero.

It is straightforward to show the following:

  • Any plane in the Euclidean space is isometric to the Euclidean plane.
  • Any three points in the space lie on a plane.
  • An intersection of two distinct planes (if it is nonempty) is a line in each of these planes.

These statements make it possible to generalize many notions and results from Euclidean plane geometry to the Euclidean space by applying plane geometry in the planes of the space.


This page titled 15.2: Euclidean Space is shared under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Anton Petrunin via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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