A tangent is a line in the plane of a circle that intersects the circle in exactly one point — the point of tangency.
Example Tangent: GE. Point of Tangency: F.
Practice makes perfect
Before naming a tangent and a point of tangency from the graph, let's review some important definitions about circles.
Radius: A segment whose endpoints are the center and any point on the circumference on a circle.
Chord: A segment whose endpoints are on the circumference of a circle.
Diameter: A chord that contains the center of the circle.
Secant: A line that intersects a circle in two points.
Tangent: A line in the plane of a circle that intersects the circle in exactly one point — the point of tangency.
Now, consider the given diagram. We can see that GE intersects the circle in exactly one point.
Therefore, according to the definitions, GE is a tangent to the circle. Note that, this is only one of the many names this line can take. Additionally, F is the point of tangency.
