The Mathematics of Distance



These modules were designed for middle and high school students interested in applications of mathematics to questions concerning distance. Each module guides the student through a particular problem, or series of problems, so that the student discovers most of the information on the topic for him or herself. Partial solutions are provided in the final section, though to really understand the material, the student should work through the problems in greater detail than that in which the solutions are written. The modules become more abstract, though not necessarily more difficult, as one proceeds through them. The material builds cumulatively, so the modules should be covered in order.
  1. The Pythagorean Theorem
  2. Euclidean Distance
  3. Distance on a Sphere
  4. Different Notions of Distance
  5. Distance Functions and Isometries
  6. Open Sets in the Plane
  7. Solutions

This work was made possible through a grant from the National Science Foundation.