secant definition of secant in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

secant, in mathematics.

1 In geometry, a secant is a straight line cutting a curve or surface. If it intersects the curve in two different points, as in the secant of a circle circle, closed plane curve consisting of all points at a given distance from some fixed point, called the center. A circle is a conic section cut by a plane perpendicular to the axis of the cone.
..... Click the link for more information. , the segment of the secant between the points is called a chord. The limiting position of a secant, if such a limit exists, is called the tangent tangent, in mathematics.

1 In geometry, the tangent to a circle or sphere is a straight line that intersects the circle or sphere in one and only one point.
..... Click the link for more information. to the curve or surface at that point.

2 A trigonometric function. See trigonometry trigonometry [Gr.,=measurement of triangles], a specialized area of geometry concerned with the properties of and relations among the parts of a triangle. Spherical trigonometry is concerned with the study of triangles on the surface of a sphere rather than in the
..... Click the link for more information. .

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