Secant line 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 interval on a secant whose endpoints are these points. A straight line can intersect a circle in two, one or zero points. A line intersecting in two points is called a "secant line", in one
Group of rational points on the unit circle Group of rational points on the unit circle In mathematics, the rational points on the unit circle are those points ("x", "y") such that both "x" and "y" are rational numbers ("fractions") and satisfy "x" + "y" = 1. The set of such points turns out to be closely related to primitive Pythagorean triples. Consider a primitive right triangle, that is, with integral side lengths "a", "b", "c", with "c" the hypotenuse, such that the sides have no common factor larger than 1. Then on the unit circle there exists the rational point ("a"/"c", "b"/"c"), which, in the complex plane,