Math.hypot()
Baseline Widely available
This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.
The Math.hypot()
static method returns the square root of the sum of squares of its arguments. That is,
Try it
Syntax
Math.hypot()
Math.hypot(value1)
Math.hypot(value1, value2)
Math.hypot(value1, value2, /* …, */ valueN)
Parameters
value1
, …,valueN
-
Numbers.
Return value
Description
Calculating the hypotenuse of a right triangle, or the magnitude of a complex number, uses the formula Math.sqrt(v1*v1 + v2*v2)
, where v1 and v2 are the lengths of the triangle's legs, or the complex number's real and complex components. The corresponding distance in 2 or more dimensions can be calculated by adding more squares under the square root: Math.sqrt(v1*v1 + v2*v2 + v3*v3 + v4*v4)
.
This function makes this calculation easier and faster; you call Math.hypot(v1, v2)
, or Math.hypot(v1, /* …, */, vN)
.
Math.hypot
also avoids overflow/underflow problems if the magnitude of your numbers is very large. The largest number you can represent in JS is Number.MAX_VALUE
, which is around 10308. If your numbers are larger than about 10154, taking the square of them will result in Infinity. For example, Math.sqrt(1e200*1e200 + 1e200*1e200) = Infinity
. If you use hypot()
instead, you get a better answer: Math.hypot(1e200, 1e200) = 1.4142...e+200
. This is also true with very small numbers. Math.sqrt(1e-200*1e-200 + 1e-200*1e-200) = 0
, but Math.hypot(1e-200, 1e-200) = 1.4142...e-200
.
With one argument, Math.hypot()
is equivalent to Math.abs()
. Math.hypot.length
is 2, which weakly signals that it's designed to handle at least two parameters.
Because hypot()
is a static method of Math
, you always use it as Math.hypot()
, rather than as a method of a Math
object you created (Math
is not a constructor).
Examples
Using Math.hypot()
Math.hypot(3, 4); // 5
Math.hypot(3, 4, 5); // 7.0710678118654755
Math.hypot(); // 0
Math.hypot(NaN); // NaN
Math.hypot(NaN, Infinity); // Infinity
Math.hypot(3, 4, "foo"); // NaN, since +'foo' => NaN
Math.hypot(3, 4, "5"); // 7.0710678118654755, +'5' => 5
Math.hypot(-3); // 3, the same as Math.abs(-3)
Specifications
Specification |
---|
ECMAScript Language Specification # sec-math.hypot |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser