Secant line 3-secants of a finite set of points. Finiteness of the set of points is not essential in this definition, as long as each line can intersect the set in only a finite number of points. Secant line In geometry, a secant of a curve is a line that intersects the curve in at least two (distinct) points. The word "secant" comes from the Latin word "secare", meaning "to cut". In the case of a circle, a secant will intersect the circle in exactly two points and a chord is the line segment determined by these two points, that is the
Circle of a sphere satisfy The intersection of the spheres is the set of points satisfying both equations. Subtracting the equations gives In the singular case formula_7, the spheres are concentric. There are two possibilities: if formula_8, the spheres coincide, and the intersection is the entire sphere; if formula_9, the spheres are disjoint and the intersection is empty. When "a" is nonzero, the intersection lies in a vertical plane with this x-coordinate, which may intersect both of the spheres, be tangent to both spheres, or external to both spheres. The result follows from the previous proof for sphere-plane intersections. Circle of a sphere A