What does tangent mean?
Word: Tangent
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Tangent means a straight line that meets a curve at one point without crossing it.
Word origin: From Latin tangere.
How do you spell tangent?
Syllables: tan - gent
Tricky part: The last vowel is the trap. It is said weakly, so students guess an a.
Watch out for: tangant, tangint
Memory tip: A tangent only just brushes the circle, as gently as can be, so keep the gent of gently at the end.
Idioms and Phrases
- go off at a tangent: to start talking suddenly about something different. Example: "Our history lesson went off at a tangent when someone asked about cricket."
Tangent in a sentence
Example 1: Kabir's sum asked him to find the length of a tangent from a point outside the circle.
Example 2: With a ruler and a sharp pencil, Aditi drew a tangent to the largest circle on the page.
Example 3: A flat road is like a tangent to a rolling wheel.
Fun Fact
The tan button on a scientific calculator is short for tangent, a ratio of two sides of a right-angled triangle.
Practise the CREST Way
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
ntegtan 1234567
a) 2641375
b) 6214375
c) 5734162
d) 2614375
Show answer
d) 2614375. Put in this order, the letters spell a term from circle geometry.
Sound Check
In which word is 'g' pronounced differently?
a) pigeon
b) tangent
c) target
d) margin
Show answer
c) target. Target has the hard sound of go; the other three have the soft sound of gem.
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option:
Tangent comes from the Latin word tangere, which means ___.
a) to draw
b) to touch
c) to turn
d) to curve
Show answer
b) to touch. This line just makes contact with a curve, so the Latin verb suits it.
Word Champ
Which of the statements are true?
1. A tangent to a circle meets it at exactly one point. 2. A chord joins two points on a circle. 3. The radius of a circle is twice its diameter.
a) only 1 is true
b) only 1 and 2 are true
c) only 2 and 3 are true
d) all three are true
Show answer
b) only 1 and 2 are true. The diameter is twice the radius, not the other way round, so one statement fails.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What best models a tangent to a round plate?
a) a ruler placed well away from it
b) a ruler resting against its rim
c) a ruler standing on its centre
d) a ruler laid across its middle
Show answer
b) a ruler resting against its rim
2. At the point where a tangent meets a circle, what angle does it make with the radius?
a) 180 degrees
b) 90 degrees
c) 45 degrees
d) 60 degrees
Show answer
b) 90 degrees
