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  2. Method of normals - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_normals

    In calculus, the method of normals was a technique invented by Descartes for finding normal and tangent lines to curves. It represented one of the earliest methods for constructing tangents to curves. The method hinges on the observation that the radius of a circle is always normal to the circle itself. With this in mind Descartes would ...

  3. Contact (mathematics) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_(mathematics)

    An osculating curve from a given family of curves is a curve that has the highest possible order of contact with a given curve at a given point; for instance a tangent line is an osculating curve from the family of lines, and has first-order contact with the given curve; an osculating circle is an osculating curve from the family of circles ...

  4. Vertical tangent - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_tangent

    Vertical tangent on the function ƒ(x) at x = c. In mathematics, particularly calculus, a vertical tangent is a tangent line that is vertical. Because a vertical line has infinite slope, a function whose graph has a vertical tangent is not differentiable at the point of tangency.

  5. Calculus - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calculus

    Tangent line at (x 0, f(x 0)). The derivative f′(x) of a curve at a point is the slope (rise over run) of the line tangent to that curve at that point. Differential calculus is the study of the definition, properties, and applications of the derivative of a function. The process of finding the derivative is called differentiation. Given a ...

  6. Envelope (mathematics) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Envelope_(mathematics)

    The zero level set F(t 0,(x,y)) = 0 gives the equation of the tangent line to the parabola at the point (t 0,t 0 2). The equation t 2 – 2 tx + y = 0 can always be solved for y as a function of x and so, consider

  7. Tangential and normal components - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangential_and_normal...

    Illustration of tangential and normal components of a vector to a surface. In mathematics, given a vector at a point on a curve, that vector can be decomposed uniquely as a sum of two vectors, one tangent to the curve, called the tangential component of the vector, and another one perpendicular to the curve, called the normal component of the vector.

  8. Inflection point - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflection_point

    In algebraic geometry, a non singular point of an algebraic curve is an inflection point if and only if the intersection number of the tangent line and the curve (at the point of tangency) is greater than 2. The main motivation of this different definition, is that otherwise the set of the inflection points of a curve would not be an algebraic set.

  9. Differential calculus - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_calculus

    The orange line is tangent to =, meaning at that exact point, the slope of the curve and the straight line are the same. The derivative at different points of a differentiable function The derivative of f ( x ) {\displaystyle f(x)} at the point x = a {\displaystyle x=a} is the slope of the tangent to ( a , f ( a ) ) {\displaystyle (a,f(a))} . [ 3 ]