Exercise 1747Linear algebra › Inner product spacesL1Added 3 Nov 2026
Distance to a subspace
#distance#orthogonal projection#minimization
Statement
Compute the distance from to the plane in .
Hint
The distance is . Since , we may compute instead: the vector equals the orthogonal projection of onto .
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Solution
Orthogonal complement. , normalized to .
Projection onto . . Hence
This is consistent: because is exactly the normal of (and since ).
Distance. The distance to is . Since and , we have . Therefore
Conclusion. The distance from to the plane is .