EST. 2024 · LONDON·MMXXVI SPECIFICATION
AQA·Edexcel·OCR|Foundation + Higher
← Glossary
Geometry

Tangent

A line that touches a circle (or curve) at exactly one point without crossing it.

Definition

In circle geometry, the tangent at a point is perpendicular to the radius at that point. In calculus and gradients, the tangent line shows the instantaneous rate of change.

Used in these topics

Circle theorems

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