What is triangulation?

Triangulation is when you use three points to figure out where something is.

Imagine you're playing hide-and-seek in a big park. You can't see your friend, but you hear them laugh from somewhere. If you know they’re near the slide, near the swing, and near the sandbox, you can guess where they are, probably right in between all three spots! That’s like triangulation.

Think of a triangle: three sides and three corners. In triangulation, each corner is a known point, and the place your friend is hiding is the spot you’re trying to find. By knowing how far they are from each corner, you can draw lines between them, and where those lines meet is probably where your friend is!

Triangulation helps in many real-life situations too, like when a GPS finds your location by using signals from three satellites. Just like you used the slide, swing, and sandbox to find your friend, GPS uses three points in space, and you are the one who gets found!