Secant:
- a line passing through
two points on the circle. A secant contains a chord in the interior of the circle.
Tangent:
- a line touching (intersecting) a circle at one point without entering the interior of the circle.
Point of Tangency: point A, point J, point D
- the point at which a tangent touches (intersects) a circle.
A radius drawn to the point of tangency is perpendicular to the tangent.
Arc:
- a part of a circle's circumference.
Minor Arc:
-
any arc whose length is less than the length of a semicircle (with a corresponding central angle less than 180º).
Major Arc:
-
any arc whose length is greater than the length of a semicircle (with a corresponding central angle greater than 180º). Major arcs are usually named using three letters to distinguish them from minor arcs.
Semicircle:
- an arc whose length is exactly half of the circumference (with a corresponding central angle equal to 180º).
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