Difference between Length and Height

Trigonometry

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Difference between Length and Height

Difference between length and height is very precise, as length denotes how long shape is and height denotes how tall it is. Length is the horizontal measurement in a plane whereas height is the vertical measurement.

In Geometry, the important parameters used to describe the shapes are length, breadth and height. In most of the cases, students get confused with the terms such as length and height. Some students think that both the parameters or dimensions are the same. It shares only a few characteristics, but they have a lot of difference between them. Let us discuss the difference between length and height of an object in 2D and 3D shapes and definition with examples.

Is Height Equal to Length?

The two confusing terms in geometrical measures are the length and height. Most of the times people get confused with these terms which leads to the wrong solution for the problem. Both the measures height and length can be expressed in terms such as meters, inches, feet and so on. The term height refers to how tall is an object. whereas length refers to how long is the object. Sometimes, there is a confusion between the terms such as length and width. Length pertains the longest side of the shape and the width describe the wilderness of the object, which is the shorter side of the object.

Definition of Length and Height

Length: In Geometry, the length is defined as the longest dimension of an object. It describes the entity of an object, irrespective of the dimensions. It is usually measured along the X-axis, which is a horizontal extent.

Height: The height is defined as the measurement of the distance of an object from the base to the top. Sometimes, in Geometry, it is labelled as altitude. It measures the vertical distance from the lowest to the highest point. In General, it is the measurement along the y-axis of an object in the coordinate geometry.

What is the Difference Between Length and Height?

Go through the below comparison chart to differentiate the dimensions such as length and height and understand it in a better way.

Comparison Length Height
Actual Meaning The measurement of an object from one point to another. Height measures an object from the top to bottom
Dimension It is measured in the most-extended dimension. It measures in the dimension that would be up in any orientation.
Axis of measurement Is a measurement in the horizontal axis. Is a measurement in the vertical axis.
Used for The length determines how long an object is. Height determines how high the object takes base as a reference.
Type of object Can be one, two or three-dimensional object. Is usually measured for 3-dimensional objects.
Examples Line, square, rectangle, cube, etc. Cube, cylinder, etc.

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Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs

What is the difference between length and height?

Lenght of an object describes how long the object is and height of the object states how tall the object is. For example, the length of cuboid is different from its height, unless it is not a cube.

What is the difference between length and width?

For a rectangle, its length states how long it is and width states how broad it is. But for a square all its sides are equal, hence length and width is also same for it.

What is length x width x height equals to?

The formula for volume of cuboid is equal to length x width x height.

What type of measurements are length and height?

The horizontal measurements represents length and vertical measurements represents height.