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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. 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.

  4. Normal (geometry) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_(geometry)

    In geometry, a normal is an object (e.g. a line, ray, or vector) that is perpendicular to a given object. For example, the normal line to a plane curve at a given point is the line perpendicular to the tangent line to the curve at the point. A normal vector of length one is called a unit normal vector.

  5. Law of tangents - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_tangents

    In trigonometry, the law of tangents or tangent rule [1] is a statement about the relationship between the tangents of two angles of a triangle and the lengths of the opposing sides. In Figure 1, a, b, and c are the lengths of the three sides of the triangle, and α, β, and γ are the angles opposite those three respective sides.

  6. Tangent lines to circles - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangent_lines_to_circles

    A tangent line t to a circle C intersects the circle at a single point T. For comparison, secant lines intersect a circle at two points, whereas another line may not intersect a circle at all. This property of tangent lines is preserved under many geometrical transformations, such as scalings, rotation, translations, inversions, and map ...

  7. Tangent - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangent

    In mathematics, a tangent vector is a vector that is tangent to a curve or surface at a given point. Tangent vectors are described in the differential geometry of curves in the context of curves in R n. More generally, tangent vectors are elements of a tangent space of a differentiable manifold. Tangent vectors can also be described in terms of ...

  8. Adequality - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adequality

    Adequality is a technique developed by Pierre de Fermat in his treatise Methodus ad disquirendam maximam et minimam [1] (a Latin treatise circulated in France c. 1636 ) to calculate maxima and minima of functions, tangents to curves, area, center of mass, least action, and other problems in calculus.

  9. Dividing a circle into areas - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dividing_a_circle_into_areas

    The number of points (n), chords (c) and regions (r G) for first 6 terms of Moser's circle problem. In geometry, the problem of dividing a circle into areas by means of an inscribed polygon with n sides in such a way as to maximise the number of areas created by the edges and diagonals, sometimes called Moser's circle problem (named after Leo Moser), has a solution by an inductive method.