Calculate Euclidean distance between 4-dimensional vectors

user3583442 picture user3583442 · Apr 29, 2014 · Viewed 20.4k times · Source

Let's say I have two 4-dimensional vectors (i.e. a and b) as follows:

a = {a1, a2, a3, a4}
b= {b1, b2, b3, b4}

How do I compute the Euclidean distance between these vectors?

Answer

Marlos C. Machado picture Marlos C. Machado · Apr 29, 2014

The euclidian distance calculus is independent of dimensions.

In your case, the euclidian distance between a and b can be written as: d(a,b) = sqrt(sum_{i=1}^{4} (a[i] - b[i])^2).

Or, more specifically: d(a,b) = sqrt( (a1-b1)^2 + (a2-b2)^2 + (a3-b3)^2 + (a4-b4)^2 ).