1. What is the Haversine Formula?

The Haversine formula calculates the great-circle distance between two points on a sphere given their longitudes and latitudes. It's particularly accurate for calculating distances between points on the Earth's surface.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the Haversine formula:

Where:

• \( d \) — Distance in kilometers
• \( lat1, lon1 \) — Latitude and longitude of point 1 (in radians)
• \( lat2, lon2 \) — Latitude and longitude of point 2 (in radians)
• 6371 — Earth's radius in kilometers

Explanation: The formula accounts for the curvature of the Earth to provide accurate distance measurements between any two points on the globe.

3. Importance of Distance Calculation

Details: Accurate distance calculation between geographic coordinates is essential for navigation, logistics, geography studies, and many location-based applications.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter latitude and longitude coordinates in decimal degrees format (e.g., 40.7128 for New York City's latitude). Positive values for North/East, negative for South/West.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: How accurate is this calculation?
A: The Haversine formula provides very accurate results (within 0.5%) for most practical purposes on Earth's surface.

Q2: What's the maximum distance this can calculate?
A: The formula works for any distance, but for antipodal points (exact opposite sides of Earth), special consideration might be needed.

Q3: Can I use this for navigation?
A: While accurate, for precise navigation, more complex models accounting for Earth's ellipsoidal shape may be needed.

Q4: What coordinate system should I use?
A: The calculator expects decimal degrees in WGS84 coordinate system (used by GPS).

Q5: Why does the Earth's radius matter?
A: The formula calculates distances based on the sphere's curvature, so the radius directly affects the result.