tangent plane
- noun
- Specialized
:
plano tangente
- At a point where the surface is bowl-shaped, the curvature is positive: all nearby points are on the same side of the tangent plane.
Examples
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And that's a much simpler equation for the tangent plane than our first equation, which we had here.
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So this is our simplified equation of the tangent plane to the graph of this function.
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And at this point I have the tangent plane to the level surface.
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Hello, in this problem we're going to find the equation of the tangent plane to this surface.
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So pretend that the tangent plane is laying here.
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Well, one way to think about it is in terms of tangent plane approximation.
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At a point in the saddle-shaped region, the curvature is negative: there are nearby points on both sides of the tangent plane.
Academic text (2002) -
The coordinates are defined so that, at the critical point, the tangent plane is the xy plane and the y-axis is tangent to the connodal.
Academic text (2002) -
The mathematician explained that the tangent plane touches the surface at exactly one point.
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To solve the problem, we need to determine the tangent plane at this specific point on the curve.
Synonyms
1
7.2
A straight line that touches a curved line at one point without crossing it
Surface Forms
Morphology
Given knowledge of 'tangent' (touching a curve at a point) and 'plane' (a flat surface), a learner can compose the meaning as a plane that touches a surface at a point; the term is a direct, technical extension of its constituents. Although it's a specialized mathematical term, its meaning is transparently derivable from the parts and follows regular compounding logic.
Etymology
The term tangent plane combines tangent, meaning something that 'touches' at one point, and plane, meaning a flat surface. Imagine a flat sheet just touching a round shape so it matches the surface's tilt at that spot, and that's why a tangent plane is used to estimate the surface near that point.