Difference between haversine and law of cosines

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the derivation of the haversine formula from the spherical law of cosines. The original poster expresses confusion regarding the modifications between the two formulas and seeks clarification on the nature of these changes.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to understand the differences between the spherical law of cosines and the haversine formula, specifically questioning why certain expressions appear modified. Other participants provide links to resources and suggest reviewing identities related to the formulas.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants exploring the relationship between the two formulas. Some guidance has been offered through references to external resources, but the original poster indicates that these do not resolve their confusion.

Contextual Notes

The original poster mentions concerns about plagiarism, which may limit the details they can share about their work. There is also a noted discrepancy between their findings and those presented in external articles.

ngc2024
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Homework Statement


I am currently attempting to derive the haversine formula from the sperhical law of cosines. My only problem is that it seems to me that there is some kind of modification from the cosine law to the haversine. My question is if anyone knows what and why a modification has been implemented?


Homework Equations


The law of sperical cosines:
[itex]cos(C)=cos(A)cos(B)+sin(A)sin(B)cos(α)[/itex]


The haversine formula:
[itex]d=2\times r\times arcsin[/itex][itex]\sqrt{sin^2\frac{\phi_2-\phi_1}{2}+cos(\phi_1)cos(\phi_2)sin^2\frac{\lambda_2-\lambda_1}{2}}[/itex]

The Attempt at a Solution


In fear of being taken for plagiarism in my paper, I can't show my whole working here. However, the problem seems to be, that when you work with the spherical law of cosines, parts of the expression equals: [itex]\frac{sin(\phi_1)sin(\phi_2)}{-2}[/itex]
whereas the haversine here equals:[itex]sin^2[/itex] ([itex]\frac{\phi_2-\phi_1}{2}[/itex])
These expressions are not equal? Why has it been changed?

Thank you
 
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Thank you, but unfortunately not. The article maintaines that the formulas are equal, which other pages and my own formulas go against...
 
Without seeing your work it is not possible to determine where your error is.

If you followed the links in the haversine formula article you would find the identities:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haversine
 
Starting with: cos(C) = cos(A) cos(B) + sin(A) sin(B) cos(a) and using cos(A-B) = cos(A) cos(B) + sin(A) sin(B) gives,

cos(C) = cos(A-B) - sin(A) sin(B) +sin(A) sin(B) cos(a)
cos(C) = cos(A-B) - sin(A) sin(B) (1-cos(a))
1 + cos(C) = 1 + cos(A-B) - sin(A) sin(B) (1-cos(a)) adding 1 to both sides
1 - cos(A-B) = 1 - cos(C) - sin(A) sin(B) (1-cos(a)) regrouping and dividing every member by 2
(1 - cos(A-B))/2= (1 - cos(C))/2 - sin(A) sin(B) (1-cos(a))/2
have(A-B) = have(C) - sin(A) sin(B) have(a)
 

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