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Subtangent
In geometry, the subtangent and related terms are certain line segments defined using the line tangent to a curve at a given point and the coordinate axes. The terms are somewhat archaic today but were in common use until the early part of the 20th century. Definitions Let ''P'' = (''x'', ''y'') be a point on a given curve with ''A'' = (''x'', 0) its projection onto the ''x''-axis. Draw the tangent to the curve at ''P'' and let ''T'' be the point where this line intersects the ''x''-axis. Then ''TA'' is defined to be the subtangent at ''P''. Similarly, if normal to the curve at ''P'' intersects the ''x''-axis at ''N'' then ''AN'' is called the subnormal. In this context, the lengths ''PT'' and ''PN'' are called the tangent and normal, not to be confused with the tangent line and the normal line which are also called the tangent and normal. Equations Let ''φ'' be the angle of inclination of the tangent with respect to the ''x''-axis; this is also k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tangent
In geometry, the tangent line (or simply tangent) to a plane curve at a given point is, intuitively, the straight line that "just touches" the curve at that point. Leibniz defined it as the line through a pair of infinitely close points on the curve. More precisely, a straight line is tangent to the curve at a point if the line passes through the point on the curve and has slope , where ''f'' is the derivative of ''f''. A similar definition applies to space curves and curves in ''n''-dimensional Euclidean space. The point where the tangent line and the curve meet or intersect is called the ''point of tangency''. The tangent line is said to be "going in the same direction" as the curve, and is thus the best straight-line approximation to the curve at that point. The tangent line to a point on a differentiable curve can also be thought of as a '' tangent line approximation'', the graph of the affine function that best approximates the original function at the given point ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tangential Angle
In geometry, the tangential angle of a curve in the Cartesian plane, at a specific point, is the angle between the tangent line to the curve at the given point and the -axis. (Some authors define the angle as the deviation from the direction of the curve at some fixed starting point. This is equivalent to the definition given here by the addition of a constant to the angle or by rotating the curve.) Equations Parametric If a curve is given parametrically by , then the tangential angle at is defined (up to a multiple of ) by : \frac = (\cos \varphi,\ \sin \varphi). Here, the prime symbol denotes the derivative with respect to . Thus, the tangential angle specifies the direction of the velocity vector , while the speed specifies its magnitude. The vector :\frac is called the unit tangent vector, so an equivalent definition is that the tangential angle at is the angle such that is the unit tangent vector at . If the curve is parametrized by arc length , so , then the de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geometry
Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is called a ''List of geometers, geometer''. Until the 19th century, geometry was almost exclusively devoted to Euclidean geometry, which includes the notions of point (geometry), point, line (geometry), line, plane (geometry), plane, distance, angle, surface (mathematics), surface, and curve, as fundamental concepts. Originally developed to model the physical world, geometry has applications in almost all sciences, and also in art, architecture, and other activities that are related to graphics. Geometry also has applications in areas of mathematics that are apparently unrelated. For example, methods of algebraic geometry are fundamental in Wiles's proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, Wiles's proof of Fermat's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cartesian Coordinate System
In geometry, a Cartesian coordinate system (, ) in a plane (geometry), plane is a coordinate system that specifies each point (geometry), point uniquely by a pair of real numbers called ''coordinates'', which are the positive and negative numbers, signed distances to the point from two fixed perpendicular oriented lines, called ''coordinate lines'', ''coordinate axes'' or just ''axes'' (plural of ''axis'') of the system. The point where the axes meet is called the ''Origin (mathematics), origin'' and has as coordinates. The axes direction (geometry), directions represent an orthogonal basis. The combination of origin and basis forms a coordinate frame called the Cartesian frame. Similarly, the position of any point in three-dimensional space can be specified by three ''Cartesian coordinates'', which are the signed distances from the point to three mutually perpendicular planes. More generally, Cartesian coordinates specify the point in an -dimensional Euclidean space for any di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polar Coordinates
In mathematics, the polar coordinate system specifies a given point (mathematics), point in a plane (mathematics), plane by using a distance and an angle as its two coordinate system, coordinates. These are *the point's distance from a reference point called the ''pole'', and *the point's direction from the pole relative to the direction of the ''polar axis'', a ray (geometry), ray drawn from the pole. The distance from the pole is called the ''radial coordinate'', ''radial distance'' or simply ''radius'', and the angle is called the ''angular coordinate'', ''polar angle'', or ''azimuth''. The pole is analogous to the origin in a Cartesian coordinate system. Polar coordinates are most appropriate in any context where the phenomenon being considered is inherently tied to direction and length from a center point in a plane, such as spirals. Planar physical systems with bodies moving around a central point, or phenomena originating from a central point, are often simpler and more in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
