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Γ O ℓ Γ A O ℓ ℓ B B≠A C ℓ B A AB ≅BC

A tangent segment has one endpoint at the point of tangency between a circle and tangent line, and its other endpoint lies on the tangent line. A tangent segment is perpendicular to the radius of the circle that connects the center of the circle to the point of tangency. If a line is tangent to a circle at point A, the point B where the perpendicular line from the center O to the tangent line meets the tangent line must equal point A, otherwise it would contradict the definition of a tangent line meeting the circle at only one point.

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37 views1 page

Γ O ℓ Γ A O ℓ ℓ B B≠A C ℓ B A AB ≅BC

A tangent segment has one endpoint at the point of tangency between a circle and tangent line, and its other endpoint lies on the tangent line. A tangent segment is perpendicular to the radius of the circle that connects the center of the circle to the point of tangency. If a line is tangent to a circle at point A, the point B where the perpendicular line from the center O to the tangent line meets the tangent line must equal point A, otherwise it would contradict the definition of a tangent line meeting the circle at only one point.

Uploaded by

Tristan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A tangent segment is a segment with one endpoint at the point

of tangency and its other endpoint somewhere on the tangent


line. A tangent segment is also perpendicular to the radius of
the circle whose endpoint is the point of tangency.

Suppose ΓΓ is a circle centered at OO. Let ℓℓ be a line tangent to ΓΓ at a


point AA. Suppose the line from OO perpendicular to ℓℓ meets ℓℓ at a
point BB. If B≠AB≠A, then there exists a point CC on ℓℓ on the other side
of BB from AA such that AB≅BCAB≅BC. (This follows from Hilbert's
first axiom of congruence for line segments.)

By the side-angle-side theorem, △OBA≅△OBC△OBA≅△OBC, and


thus OA≅OCOA≅OC. Thus C∈ΓC∈Γ. But C≠AC≠A, a contradiction, since
the tangent line ℓℓ can only meet ΓΓ at one point by definition of
tangency. Thus B=AB=A. Thus ℓ⊥OAℓ⊥OA.

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