Love distance calculator

How is the distance worked out?

As the crow flies: the shortest path over the surface of the Earth between two points, called the great-circle distance. The calculator uses the haversine formula with the Earth’s mean radius (6,371 km). Roads, rails and flight paths are always a little longer, so take it as the minimum.

With more than two places, it shows the two that are farthest apart. The flight time is a rough guess at 800 km/h plus half an hour for take-off and landing: real flights depend on routes, winds and stopovers.

What is the halfway point?

The spot exactly in the middle of that shortest path. On a globe it isn’t the average of the coordinates: between Tokyo and Los Angeles, for example, it lies far north over the Pacific, not halfway along a flat map. It is a fun starting point for a long-distance date; the nearest city with an airport is usually the practical choice.

How is the area worked out?

Imagine a rubber band stretched around all your places and let go: the shape it makes is the convex hull, the same love polygon the app draws. Places inside it don’t change the area; only the outer ones matter. The area is measured on the sphere, not on a flat map, so a polygon near the poles isn’t inflated the way it looks on many maps.

A football pitch here is 105 × 68 m (0.00714 km²), the standard size for international matches.

Ideas

• Long-distance couples: type in both cities to see the distance and where you could meet halfway.
• Your travels: add every city you have lived in and see how much of the world you have covered.
• Your love life: add the places where you fell for someone. That one has a whole app: Bizarre Love Polygon.

Curious about the idea behind it? Read what a love polygon is.