Ideal may refer to:

Philosophy

Ideal (ethics) An ideal is a principle or value that one actively pursues as a goal, usually in the context of ethics, and one's prioritization of ideals can serve to indicate the extent of one's dedication to each. The belief in ideals is called ethical ideali ...

, values that one actively pursues as goals *

Platonic ideal The theory of Forms or theory of Ideas is a philosophical theory, fuzzy concept, or world-view, attributed to Plato, that the physical world is not as real or true as timeless, absolute, unchangeable ideas. According to this theory, ideas in th ...

, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato

Mathematics

Ideal (ring theory) In ring theory, a branch of abstract algebra, an ideal of a ring is a special subset of its elements. Ideals generalize certain subsets of the integers, such as the even numbers or the multiples of 3. Addition and subtraction of even numbers pr ...

, special subsets of a ring considered in abstract algebra * Ideal, special subsets of a

semigroup In mathematics, a semigroup is an algebraic structure consisting of a set together with an associative internal binary operation on it. The binary operation of a semigroup is most often denoted multiplicatively: ''x''·''y'', or simply ''xy'', ...

Ideal (order theory) In mathematical order theory, an ideal is a special subset of a partially ordered set (poset). Although this term historically was derived from the notion of a ring ideal of abstract algebra, it has subsequently been generalized to a different noti ...

, special kind of lower sets of an order *

Ideal (set theory) In the mathematical field of set theory, an ideal is a partially ordered collection of sets that are considered to be "small" or "negligible". Every subset of an element of the ideal must also be in the ideal (this codifies the idea that an ideal ...

, a collection of sets regarded as "small" or "negligible" *

Ideal (Lie algebra) In mathematics, a Lie algebra (pronounced ) is a vector space \mathfrak g together with an operation called the Lie bracket, an alternating bilinear map \mathfrak g \times \mathfrak g \rightarrow \mathfrak g, that satisfies the Jacobi ident ...

, a particular subset in a Lie algebra *

Ideal point In hyperbolic geometry, an ideal point, omega point or point at infinity is a well-defined point outside the hyperbolic plane or space. Given a line ''l'' and a point ''P'' not on ''l'', right- and left-limiting parallels to ''l'' through ''P'' ...

, a boundary point in hyperbolic geometry *

Ideal triangle In hyperbolic geometry an ideal triangle is a hyperbolic triangle whose three vertices all are ideal points. Ideal triangles are also sometimes called ''triply asymptotic triangles'' or ''trebly asymptotic triangles''. The vertices are sometimes ...

, a triangle in hyperbolic geometry whose vertices are ideal points

Science

Ideal chain Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considered ...

, in science, the simplest model describing a polymer *

Ideal gas law The ideal gas law, also called the general gas equation, is the equation of state of a hypothetical ideal gas. It is a good approximation of the behavior of many gases under many conditions, although it has several limitations. It was first stat ...

, in physics, governing the pressure of an ideal gas * Ideal transformer, an electrical

transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...

having zero resistance and perfect magnetic threading * Ideal final result, in TRIZ methodology, the best possible solution *

Thought experiment A thought experiment is a hypothetical situation in which a hypothesis, theory, or principle is laid out for the purpose of thinking through its consequences. History The ancient Greek ''deiknymi'' (), or thought experiment, "was the most anci ...

, sometimes called an ideal experiment *

Ideal type Ideal type (german: Idealtypus), also known as pure type, is a typological term most closely associated with sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920). For Weber, the conduct of social science depends upon the construction of abstract, hypothetical co ...

, a social science term * Ideal solution, a solution with thermodynamic properties analogous to those of a mixture of ideal gases

Entertainment

Ideal (group) Ideal was an American R&B quartet from Houston, Texas, United States. The group debuted in 1999 and was composed of brothers Maverick "Mav" and Cedrick "Swab" Cotton, their cousin Wayne "PZ" Perry, and high school friend Jay "J-Dante" Green, a ...

, a late-1990s/2000s American R&B group *

Ideal (German band) Ideal was one of the more successful German Neue Deutsche Welle music groups. It is best known for the songs "Blaue Augen" (Blue Eyes), "Berlin", and "Monotonie" (Monotony). History In 1980, Annette Humpe, Ernst Ulrich Deuker, Frank Jürgen ...

, an early-1980s German rock group * ''Ideal'' (album), a 1999 album by the R&B group Ideal * ''

An Ideal ''An Ideal'' () is the third studio album by Chinese singer-songwriter Ronghao Li, released on January 22, 2016, by Warner Music Taiwan Warner Music Group's labels include the following. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records *Elektra Records *Par ...

'', a 2016 album by Li Ronghao * ''Ideal'' (novel), a 1934 novel by Ayn Rand, published in 2015 ** ''Ideal'' (play), a 1936 play by Ayn Rand, adapted from the novel, published in 1989 * ''Ideal'' (TV series), a British situation comedy *

Ideal Film Company The Ideal Film Company (often known as Ideal Films or simply Ideal) was a British film production and distribution company that operated between 1911 and 1934. The company, based in Soho, London, was started by the two Jewish brothers Harry Mos ...

, a British film studio of the Silent Era *

Ideal Ice Cream The Ideal Ice Cream is an ice cream manufacturing company based in Mangalore, India. It was started on 1 May 1975 by Prabhakar Kamath, and is the biggest ice cream manufacturer in Mangalore with an 80% market share. It has several outlets in and ...

, an ice cream company *

Ideal Toy Company Ideal Toy Company was an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post–World War II baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Their most popular dolls included Betsy ...

, a defunct toy company

Places

Ideal, Georgia Ideal is a city in Macon County, Georgia, United States. The population was 499 at the 2010 census. History The town was originally named Joetown, but when two railroad executives stopped in the town, one proclaimed it an "ideal" place for a rai ...

Ideal, Illinois Ideal is an unincorporated community in Carroll County, Illinois, United States. Ideal is located on Illinois Route 78 Illinois Route 78 is a major north–south highway in western Illinois. It runs from Illinois Route 104 northwest of Ja ...

Ideal, South Dakota Ideal is an unincorporated community in northern Tripp County, South Dakota, United States. It lies north of the city of Winner, the county seat.Rand McNally. ''The Road Atlas '05.'' Chicago: Rand McNally Rand McNally is an American technolo ...

Ideal Mini School Ideal Mini School is a public secondary mini school in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is a complete grade 8–12 high school program. It is generally accepted as the "steward school" of Sir Winston Churchill Secondary, although it was run indepe ...

Miscellaneous

Changhe Ideal The Changhe Ideal is a city car produced by Jiangxi Changhe Suzuki Automobile Company, in a joint-venture between Chinese and Japanese automakers Changhe and Suzuki, since 2003. The model is known in Brazil as the Effa M100, in Uruguay as the Eff ...

, a city car produced by a joint-venture of Changhe and Suzuki *

Ideal 18 The Ideal 18 is a Canadian trailerable sailboat that was designed by Bruce Kirby as a one design racer and first built in 1989.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 88-89. Houghton Miff ...

, a Canadian sailboat design * IDEAL Scholars Fund, an American scholarship program for underrepresented students * ''Ideal'' (newspaper), a Spanish-language newspaper *

iDEAL Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considere ...

, an online payment method in the Netherlands * Ideal Industries, an American manufacturer of electrical connectors and tools *

IDEAL framework IDEAL (Idea, Development, Exploration, Assessment, Long-term study) is a framework for describing the stages of innovation in surgery and other interventional procedures. The purpose of IDEAL is to improve the quality of research in surgery by emph ...

(Idea, Development, Exploration, Assessment, Long-term study), a framework for describing the stages of innovation in surgery * IDEAL (Interactive Development Environment for an Application Lifecycle), a development language above COBOL for