Tangent lines to circles
Okay kiddo, let's talk about tangent lines and circles! Imagine you have a big round cookie that you want to cut in half with a straight line. If you put the line exactly in the middle, it will cut the cookie in half perfectly. But what if you put the line just a little bit to the side? It will only touch the cookie at one spot, and that spot is where we call the tangent point.
Now imagine that instead of a cookie, we have a round circle. Just like with the cookie, we can draw a straight line that touches the circle at just one spot - this is called the tangent line.
The tangent line is special because it's perpendicular (which means it makes a 90 degree angle) to a "radius" line that starts in the center of the circle and ends at the tangent point. We call this line the "normal" because it's perpendicular, which is a fancy word for "straight up."
So there you have it, when we talk about tangent lines to circles, we mean a straight line that touches the circle at just one spot, and is perpendicular to a line that starts at the center of the circle and ends at that spot.
Now imagine that instead of a cookie, we have a round circle. Just like with the cookie, we can draw a straight line that touches the circle at just one spot - this is called the tangent line.
The tangent line is special because it's perpendicular (which means it makes a 90 degree angle) to a "radius" line that starts in the center of the circle and ends at the tangent point. We call this line the "normal" because it's perpendicular, which is a fancy word for "straight up."
So there you have it, when we talk about tangent lines to circles, we mean a straight line that touches the circle at just one spot, and is perpendicular to a line that starts at the center of the circle and ends at that spot.