Secant
A line that intersects a circle in two points
In geometry, a secant is a straight line that intersects another curve or line at two or more points. The term secant is most commonly used in reference to circles, where a secant is a line that intersects the circle at two distinct points. In general, if a straight line intersects a curve or line at exactly two points, then it is called a secant.
One important property of secants in circles is that the product of the lengths of the line segments created by the intersections of the secant with the circle is equal. This property is known as the secant-tangent theorem, as it relates the lengths of secant segments to tangent segments that touch the circle at a single point.
Secants also play an important role in trigonometry, as the secant function is defined as the reciprocal of the cosine function. In this context, the secant function gives the ratio of the hypotenuse to the adjacent side in a right triangle.
Overall, secants are an important concept in geometry and trigonometry, and are used in a variety of mathematical contexts.
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