Etymology
The word "tangent" is derived from the Latin word "tangere," meaning "to touch."
Meaning
In mathematics, a tangent is a straight line that touches a curve at a single point without crossing it. It is perpendicular to the curve's normal line at that point.
Origin
The concept of a tangent first appeared in ancient Greece. Around 300 BC, Euclid defined a tangent as a straight line that meets a circle and does not intersect it. Archimedes later extended this definition to include other curves, such as parabolas and ellipses.
In the 17th century, René Descartes introduced the concept of the "slope" of a tangent line, which is the angle it makes with the horizontal. This allowed mathematicians to calculate the tangents of curves using calculus.
The term "tangent" has also been used in other fields, such as physics and engineering, to describe lines or surfaces that touch or intersect at a single point.
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