>> a=[-2,1,5];s=[-1,0,2];b=[3,0,-1];ba=a-b;l=sqrt(dot(ba,ba));
>> alpha=acos(dot(ba,s)/(l*sqrt(dot(s,s))));d=l*sin(alpha)
d =
3361/1640
>> format short
>> d
d =
2.0494
% min_val is the distance between point and line
k=(-4:0.001:4)';
x=-k+3;
y=0*k;
z=2*k-1;
d=sqrt((x-1).^2+(y-1).^2+(z-4).^2);
[min_val,num]=min(d),
foot=[x(num),y(num),z(num)]