Skew lines

Imagine you have two pencils. These pencils are very different from each other. One pencil is blue and the other one is yellow. Now, hold these pencils in such a way that their tips touch each other.

Now, try to move the pencils so that they become straight, but keep their tips touching each other. You will notice that it is impossible to make them straight without separating their tips. This is because the pencils are different from each other and they cannot be placed in a straight line while keeping their tips together.

Now, imagine that these pencils are actually two lines. These lines are called skew lines because they are not in the same plane and they never meet each other, no matter how long they are extended. They have a special property that they are not parallel but they are also not intersecting or meeting each other.

Skew lines are all around us. For example, the edges of a cube, a pair of scissors or railway tracks can be thought of as skew lines. They are used in many real-life situations, like designing buildings, bridges or roads.

In summary, skew lines are two lines that are not in the same plane and never meet each other but do not run parallel to each other either.