Distance between skew lines

Skew lines are two lines in space that do not intersect and are not parallel. The distance between two skew lines is the shortest distance between any point on one line and any point on the other line. This shortest distance is the length of the segment that is perpendicular to both lines.

Important properties

• Skew lines do not lie in the same plane.

• The shortest segment connecting the two lines is perpendicular to both lines.

• The distance can be found using vector methods.