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We have a cone in the $3$-dim space whose base circle is on the $x$-$y$ plane and has a rotational symmetry by the z-axis. We need to calculate the shortest distance bewteen $(15,8,25)$ and $(20,-21,13)$ on the cone surface.

That's all the info I have. No function of the cone is given. Can someone help me with this? Thanks :)

Ayman Hourieh
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user66620
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1 Answers1

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A start: If you want the base radius and the height, note that the surface of the cone has equation of the shape $x^2+y^2=k^2(z-h)$. The parameters can be found from the fact that the two points are on the cone.

André Nicolas
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