The shortest distance between skew lines (lines that are not parallel and do not intersect) is the perpendicular distance between them. To find it, we first find two points, one on each line, say P₁ on line 1 and P₂ on line 2 . Next, we compute the vector between these two points, P₁P₂.
The shortest distance is given by the formula:

D = |(P₁ P₂) · (d₁ × d₂)| / |d₁ × d₂|

where d₁ and d₂ are the direction vectors of the two lines, and d₁ × d₂ gives a vector perpendicular to both lines. This distance represents the shortest path between the two skew lines.