Just read somewhere that the shortest path between two locations is an arc and not a straight line! eli5 how an arc is the shortest path for planes.

Question

Just read somewhere that the shortest path between two locations is an arc and not a straight line! eli5 how an arc is the shortest path for planes.

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Answer 1

You’ve misunderstood. The shortest path between 2 points is *always* a straight line. It’s just that on a flat map that represents a sphere, that line looks like an arc, and on the surface of the sphere, the line follows the curve of the sphere (but it’s still a straight line).