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In geometry, a straight line, usually abbreviated line, is an infinitely long object with no width, depth, or curvature, an idealization of such physical objects as a straightedge, a taut string, or a ray of light. Lines are spaces of dimension one, which may be embedded in spaces of dimension two, three, or
This proof is valid only if the line is neither vertical nor horizontal, that is, we assume that neither a nor b in the equation of the line is zero. The line with equation ax + by + c = 0 has slope -a/b, so any line perpendicular to it will have slope b/a (the negative reciprocal). Let (m, n) be the point of intersection of the line ax + by ...
Conversely, every line is the set of all solutions of a linear equation. The phrase "linear equation" takes its origin in this correspondence between lines and equations: a linear equation in two variables is an equation whose solutions form a line. If b ≠ 0, the line is the graph of the function of x that has been defined in the preceding ...
Informally, it is a line through a pair of infinitely close points on the curve. More precisely, a straight line is said to be a tangent of a curve y = f(x) at a point x = c on the curve if the line passes through the point (c, f(c)) on the curve and has slope f ' (c) where f ' is the derivative of f.
Its graph, when there is only one variable, is a horizontal line. In this context, a function that is also a linear map (the other meaning) may be referred to as a homogeneous linear function or a linear form. In the context of linear algebra, the polynomial functions of degree 0 or 1 are the scalar-valued affine maps.
In geometry, a line segment is a part of a straight line that is bounded by two distinct endpoints (its extreme points), and contains every point on the line that is between its endpoints. It is a special case of an arc, with zero curvature. The length of a line segment is given by the Euclidean distance between its endpoints.
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The motion of a particle (a point-like object) along a line can be described by its position , which varies with (time). An example of linear motion is an athlete running a 100-meter dash along a straight track. [2] Linear motion is the most basic of all motion.