Introduction
Segment Lengths

A circular window with line segments

Chords are segments whose endpoints lie on the circle. Chords lie completely within a circle. Secants are lines that intersect a circle at two points. Tangents are lines that intersect a circle at one point. In this topic, you will explore the patterns of chords that intersect within a circle, secants that pass through circles, and tangents that intersect a circle. You will learn how to determine the segment length formed by intersecting chords. You will also explore the relationship between circles and segments that lie outside the circle, in particular tangents and secants.

Essential Questions

 

Warm-Up

Warm-up iconBefore you begin your study segment lengths, check your knowledge of chords, secants, and tangents. Hover your cursor over the image that represents the correct term. Can you get all three correct?

 

Chord

correctincorrectincorrect
Secant

incorrectincorrectcorrect


Tangent

incorrectcorrectincorrect