Circles and lines

I think that half the battle in maths is getting used to the terminology. Everyone knows what a circle is but you may not know the definition of a words associated with circles.

The circumference is the length of the circle itself. If you draw a circle and then put string on top of the drawing. Then place the string in a straight line and then measure it and you have the circumference.

The diameter is a straight line across a circle from one part of the circumference to another and it goes through the centre. It's a bit like the hands of a clock at 6 o'clock (yes I know there is a little hand). If you don't have any string for the circumference then you could always measure the diameter and multiply it by pi (see the blog called 'dimensions'). A chord is any line across a circle as long as it doesn't go through the centre because it would then be the diameter not a chord. A radius is a straight line from the centre of a circle to the circumference and it is half the diameter.

What is a tangent? The Latin tangere means to touch, and that is exactly what a tangent does. It doesn't go into a circle it just touches it. Imaging a cicus artist balancing on a board which is on a drum. Take a cross-section of the board and drum. The drum becomes a circle and the board becomes a tangent.

Finally a sector is an area which is bounded by two radii (plural of radius) and an arc (a section of the circumference). If you find this difficult to understand then I am going back to the cake simile. It's like a slice of cake. as long as the cake is round. 'I'll have a sector of cake please'.

That sums it up.