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Thus in differential geometry, a line may be interpreted as a geodesic (shortest path between points), while in some projective geometries, a line is a 2-dimensional vector space (all linear combinations of two independent vectors). This flexibility also extends beyond mathematics and, for example, permits physicists to think of the path of a ...
Alternatively, a line can be described as the intersection of two planes. Let L be a line contained in distinct planes a and b with homogeneous coefficients (a 0 : a 1 : a 2 : a 3) and (b 0 : b 1 : b 2 : b 3), respectively. (The first plane equation is =, for example.)
The only way that the line will not intersect the plane is if the ray's direction vector is parallel to the plane. [3] When this happens, the dot product between the ray's direction vector and the plane's normal vector will be zero. Otherwise, the ray does intersect the plane somewhere, but not necessarily within the triangle.
Historically, the term line was used in place of the more modern term curve. Hence the terms straight line and right line were used to distinguish what are today called lines from curved lines. For example, in Book I of Euclid's Elements, a line is defined as a "breadthless length" (Def. 2), while a straight line is defined as "a line that lies
In geometry, an intersection is a point, line, or curve common to two or more objects (such as lines, curves, planes, and surfaces). The simplest case in Euclidean geometry is the line–line intersection between two distinct lines, which either is one point (sometimes called a vertex) or does not exist (if the lines are parallel). Other types ...
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 section.
Linear function: First degree polynomial, graph is a straight line. Quadratic function: Second degree polynomial, graph is a parabola. Cubic function: Third degree polynomial. Quartic function: Fourth degree polynomial. Quintic function: Fifth degree polynomial. Rational functions: A ratio of two polynomials. nth root
In mathematics, a line integral is an integral where the function to be integrated is evaluated along a curve. [1] The terms path integral, curve integral, and curvilinear integral are also used; contour integral is used as well, although that is typically reserved for line integrals in the complex plane.