Tangent (Noun)
Meaning 1
Ratio of the opposite to the adjacent side of a right-angled triangle.
Classification
Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Related Words
Meaning 2
A straight line or plane that touches a curve or curved surface at a point but does not intersect it at that point.
Classification
Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes.
Examples
- The tangent to the circle touches its circumference at a single point, creating a line that just grazes the curve.
- In calculus, finding the tangent to a curve at a given point helps determine its rate of change.
- The engineer carefully calculated the tangent of the spiral ramp to ensure a smooth transition for the highway.
- The artist used a tangent to create a subtle sense of depth in her painting, hinting at the edges of the subjects.
- The tangent of the parabola intersected the x-axis at exactly the point where the curve had its maximum curvature.