Parallel chord

Imagine you are playing with toy blocks, and you make a long rectangle shape using two long blocks and some short blocks in between to connect them.

Now, if you drew a line (straight line) from one end of the rectangle to the other end, going through the short blocks, that would be the chord.

But if you drew another line that is also straight, going from one end to the other, but this time not touching any of the short blocks, that would be called a parallel chord.

So a parallel chord is a straight line that starts at one end of a shape and ends at the other end, but doesn't touch any of the things in between. It's like a line that is running "parallel" to the first line that you drew.

In real life, parallel chords can be found in things like bridges or trusses that need to be extra strong and sturdy. By using parallel chords, the weight and stress of whatever is on top of the bridge or truss can be spread out more evenly, making it better able to support large loads.