Question

Consider the following statements and choose the correct option.
1) A tangent is a line that touches the circle at one point.
2) A tangent is an extreme case of the secant where the points of intersection coincide.

• A. 1 is true and 2 is false.
• B. 1 is false and 2 is true.
• C. Both 1 and 2 are true.
• D. Both 1 and 2 are false.

Answer 1

The correct option is C

Both 1 and 2 are true.

As shown in the figure, PQ is a tangent that touches the circle at one point.
Also, a tangent can be taken as an extreme case of a secant where the secant is moved in such a way that the points of intersection come closer until they coincide.
Here, AB is the secant. As the secant is moved away from the centre of the circle, at one point it becomes the tangent AB where both the intersection points coincide and secant AB becomes the tangent PQ.