# Analytic geometry

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In classical mathematics, analytic geometry, also known as coordinate geometry or Cartesian geometry, is the study of geometry using a coordinate system. This contrasts with synthetic geometry.

Geometry is a branch of mathematics concerned with questions of shape, size, relative position of figures, and the properties of space. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is called a geometer.

In geometry, a coordinate system is a system that uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine the position of the points or other geometric elements on a manifold such as Euclidean space. The order of the coordinates is significant, and they are sometimes identified by their position in an ordered tuple and sometimes by a letter, as in "the x-coordinate". The coordinates are taken to be real numbers in elementary mathematics, but may be complex numbers or elements of a more abstract system such as a commutative ring. The use of a coordinate system allows problems in geometry to be translated into problems about numbers and vice versa; this is the basis of analytic geometry.

Synthetic geometry is the study of geometry without the use of coordinates or formulae. It relies on the axiomatic method and the tools directly related to them, that is, compass and straightedge, to draw conclusions and solve problems.

## Contents

Analytic geometry is widely used in physics and engineering, and also in aviation, rocketry, space science, and spaceflight. It is the foundation of most modern fields of geometry, including algebraic, differential, discrete and computational geometry.

Physics is the natural science that studies matter and its motion and behavior through space and time and that studies the related entities of energy and force. Physics is one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines, and its main goal is to understand how the universe behaves.

Engineering is the application of knowledge in the form of science, mathematics, and empirical evidence, to the innovation, design, construction, operation and maintenance of structures, machines, materials, devices, systems, processes, and organizations. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more specialized fields of engineering, each with a more specific emphasis on particular areas of applied mathematics, applied science, and types of application. See glossary of engineering.

Aviation, or air transport, refers to the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. Aircraft includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as balloons and airships.

Usually the Cartesian coordinate system is applied to manipulate equations for planes, straight lines, and squares, often in two and sometimes in three dimensions. Geometrically, one studies the Euclidean plane (two dimensions) and Euclidean space (three dimensions). As taught in school books, analytic geometry can be explained more simply: it is concerned with defining and representing geometrical shapes in a numerical way and extracting numerical information from shapes' numerical definitions and representations. That the algebra of the real numbers can be employed to yield results about the linear continuum of geometry relies on the Cantor–Dedekind axiom.

A Cartesian coordinate system is a coordinate system that specifies each point uniquely in a plane by a set of numerical coordinates, which are the signed distances to the point from two fixed perpendicular oriented lines, measured in the same unit of length. Each reference line is called a coordinate axis or just axis of the system, and the point where they meet is its origin, at ordered pair (0, 0). The coordinates can also be defined as the positions of the perpendicular projections of the point onto the two axes, expressed as signed distances from the origin.

In mathematics, an equation is a statement of an equality containing one or more variables. Solving the equation consists of determining which values of the variables make the equality true. Variables are also called unknowns and the values of the unknowns that satisfy the equality are called solutions of the equation. There are two kinds of equations: identities and conditional equations. An identity is true for all values of the variable. A conditional equation is true for only particular values of the variables.

The notion of line or straight line was introduced by ancient mathematicians to represent straight objects with negligible width and depth. Lines are an idealization of such objects. Until the 17th century, lines were defined as the "[…] first species of quantity, which has only one dimension, namely length, without any width nor depth, and is nothing else than the flow or run of the point which […] will leave from its imaginary moving some vestige in length, exempt of any width. […] The straight line is that which is equally extended between its points."

## History

### Ancient Greece

The Greek mathematician Menaechmus solved problems and proved theorems by using a method that had a strong resemblance to the use of coordinates and it has sometimes been maintained that he had introduced analytic geometry. [1]

Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Roughly three centuries after the Late Bronze Age collapse of Mycenaean Greece, Greek urban poleis began to form in the 8th century BC, ushering in the Archaic period and colonization of the Mediterranean Basin. This was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedon, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the western end of the Mediterranean Sea. The Hellenistic period came to an end with the conquests and annexations of the eastern Mediterranean world by the Roman Republic, which established the Roman province of Macedonia in Roman Greece, and later the province of Achaea during the Roman Empire.

Menaechmus was an ancient Greek mathematician and geometer born in Alopeconnesus in the Thracian Chersonese, who was known for his friendship with the renowned philosopher Plato and for his apparent discovery of conic sections and his solution to the then-long-standing problem of doubling the cube using the parabola and hyperbola.

Apollonius of Perga, in On Determinate Section , dealt with problems in a manner that may be called an analytic geometry of one dimension; with the question of finding points on a line that were in a ratio to the others. [2] Apollonius in the Conics further developed a method that is so similar to analytic geometry that his work is sometimes thought to have anticipated the work of Descartes by some 1800 years. His application of reference lines, a diameter and a tangent is essentially no different from our modern use of a coordinate frame, where the distances measured along the diameter from the point of tangency are the abscissas, and the segments parallel to the tangent and intercepted between the axis and the curve are the ordinates. He further developed relations between the abscissas and the corresponding ordinates that are equivalent to rhetorical equations of curves. However, although Apollonius came close to developing analytic geometry, he did not manage to do so since he did not take into account negative magnitudes and in every case the coordinate system was superimposed upon a given curve a posteriori instead of a priori. That is, equations were determined by curves, but curves were not determined by equations. Coordinates, variables, and equations were subsidiary notions applied to a specific geometric situation. [3]

Apollonius of Perga was a Greek geometer and astronomer known for his theories on the topic of conic sections. Beginning from the theories of Euclid and Archimedes on the topic, he brought them to the state they were in just before the invention of analytic geometry. His definitions of the terms ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola are the ones in use today.

### Persia

The 11th century Persian mathematician Omar Khayyám saw a strong relationship between geometry and algebra, and was moving in the right direction when he helped to close the gap between numerical and geometric algebra [4] with his geometric solution of the general cubic equations, [5] but the decisive step came later with Descartes. [4] Omar Khayyam is credited with identifying the foundations of algebraic geometry and his book Treatise on Demonstrations of Problems of Algebra (1070), which laid down the principles of algebra, is part of the body of Persian mathematics that was eventually transmitted to Europe. [6] Because of his thoroughgoing geometrical approach to algebraic equations, Khayyam can be considered a precursor of Descartes in the invention of analytic geometry. [7] :248

The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group that make up over half the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language, as well as closely related languages.

Omar Khayyam was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet. He was born in Nishapur, in northeastern Iran, and spent most of his life near the court of the Karakhanid and Seljuq rulers in the period which witnessed the First Crusade.

### Western Europe

Analytic geometry was independently invented by René Descartes and Pierre de Fermat, [8] [9] although Descartes is sometimes given sole credit. [10] [11] Cartesian geometry, the alternative term used for analytic geometry, is named after Descartes.

Descartes made significant progress with the methods in an essay titled La Geometrie (Geometry), one of the three accompanying essays (appendices) published in 1637 together with his Discourse on the Method for Rightly Directing One's Reason and Searching for Truth in the Sciences, commonly referred to as Discourse on Method . This work, written in his native French tongue, and its philosophical principles, provided a foundation for calculus in Europe. Initially the work was not well received, due, in part, to the many gaps in arguments and complicated equations. Only after the translation into Latin and the addition of commentary by van Schooten in 1649 (and further work thereafter) did Descartes's masterpiece receive due recognition. [12]

Pierre de Fermat also pioneered the development of analytic geometry. Although not published in his lifetime, a manuscript form of Ad locos planos et solidos isagoge (Introduction to Plane and Solid Loci) was circulating in Paris in 1637, just prior to the publication of Descartes' Discourse. [13] [14] [15] Clearly written and well received, the Introduction also laid the groundwork for analytical geometry. The key difference between Fermat's and Descartes' treatments is a matter of viewpoint: Fermat always started with an algebraic equation and then described the geometric curve which satisfied it, whereas Descartes started with geometric curves and produced their equations as one of several properties of the curves. [12] As a consequence of this approach, Descartes had to deal with more complicated equations and he had to develop the methods to work with polynomial equations of higher degree. It was Leonhard Euler who first applied the coordinate method in a systematic study of space curves and surfaces.

## Coordinates

In analytic geometry, the plane is given a coordinate system, by which every point has a pair of real number coordinates. Similarly, Euclidean space is given coordinates where every point has three coordinates. The value of the coordinates depends on the choice of the initial point of origin. There are a variety of coordinate systems used, but the most common are the following: [16]

### Cartesian coordinates (in a plane or space)

The most common coordinate system to use is the Cartesian coordinate system, where each point has an x-coordinate representing its horizontal position, and a y-coordinate representing its vertical position. These are typically written as an ordered pair (x, y). This system can also be used for three-dimensional geometry, where every point in Euclidean space is represented by an ordered triple of coordinates (x, y, z).

### Polar coordinates (in a plane)

In polar coordinates, every point of the plane is represented by its distance r from the origin and its angle θ from the polar axis.

### Cylindrical coordinates (in a space)

In cylindrical coordinates, every point of space is represented by its height z, its radius r from the z-axis and the angle θ its projection on the xy-plane makes with respect to the horizontal axis.

### Spherical coordinates (in a space)

In spherical coordinates, every point in space is represented by its distance ρ from the origin, the angle θ its projection on the xy-plane makes with respect to the horizontal axis, and the angle φ that it makes with respect to the z-axis. The names of the angles are often reversed in physics. [16]

## Equations and curves

In analytic geometry, any equation involving the coordinates specifies a subset of the plane, namely the solution set for the equation, or locus. For example, the equation y = x corresponds to the set of all the points on the plane whose x-coordinate and y-coordinate are equal. These points form a line, and y = x is said to be the equation for this line. In general, linear equations involving x and y specify lines, quadratic equations specify conic sections, and more complicated equations describe more complicated figures. [17]

Usually, a single equation corresponds to a curve on the plane. This is not always the case: the trivial equation x = x specifies the entire plane, and the equation x2 + y2 = 0 specifies only the single point (0, 0). In three dimensions, a single equation usually gives a surface, and a curve must be specified as the intersection of two surfaces (see below), or as a system of parametric equations. [18] The equation x2 + y2 = r2 is the equation for any circle centered at the origin (0, 0) with a radius of r.

### Lines and planes

Lines in a Cartesian plane or, more generally, in affine coordinates, can be described algebraically by linear equations. In two dimensions, the equation for non-vertical lines is often given in the slope-intercept form :

${\displaystyle y=mx+b\,}$

where:

m is the slope or gradient of the line.
b is the y-intercept of the line.
x is the independent variable of the function y = f(x).

In a manner analogous to the way lines in a two-dimensional space are described using a point-slope form for their equations, planes in a three dimensional space have a natural description using a point in the plane and a vector orthogonal to it (the normal vector) to indicate its "inclination".

Specifically, let ${\displaystyle \mathbf {r} _{0}}$ be the position vector of some point ${\displaystyle P_{0}=(x_{0},y_{0},z_{0})}$, and let ${\displaystyle \mathbf {n} =(a,b,c)}$ be a nonzero vector. The plane determined by this point and vector consists of those points ${\displaystyle P}$, with position vector ${\displaystyle \mathbf {r} }$, such that the vector drawn from ${\displaystyle P_{0}}$ to ${\displaystyle P}$ is perpendicular to ${\displaystyle \mathbf {n} }$. Recalling that two vectors are perpendicular if and only if their dot product is zero, it follows that the desired plane can be described as the set of all points ${\displaystyle \mathbf {r} }$ such that

${\displaystyle \mathbf {n} \cdot (\mathbf {r} -\mathbf {r} _{0})=0.}$

(The dot here means a dot product, not scalar multiplication.) Expanded this becomes

${\displaystyle a(x-x_{0})+b(y-y_{0})+c(z-z_{0})=0,}$

which is the point-normal form of the equation of a plane. [19] This is just a linear equation:

${\displaystyle ax+by+cz+d=0,{\text{ where }}d=-(ax_{0}+by_{0}+cz_{0}).}$

Conversely, it is easily shown that if a, b, c and d are constants and a, b, and c are not all zero, then the graph of the equation

${\displaystyle ax+by+cz+d=0,}$

is a plane having the vector ${\displaystyle \mathbf {n} =(a,b,c)}$ as a normal. [20] This familiar equation for a plane is called the general form of the equation of the plane. [21]

In three dimensions, lines can not be described by a single linear equation, so they are frequently described by parametric equations:

${\displaystyle x=x_{0}+at\,}$
${\displaystyle y=y_{0}+bt\,}$
${\displaystyle z=z_{0}+ct\,}$

where:

x, y, and z are all functions of the independent variable t which ranges over the real numbers.
(x0, y0, z0) is any point on the line.
a, b, and c are related to the slope of the line, such that the vector (a, b, c) is parallel to the line.

### Conic sections

In the Cartesian coordinate system, the graph of a quadratic equation in two variables is always a conic section – though it may be degenerate, and all conic sections arise in this way. The equation will be of the form

${\displaystyle Ax^{2}+Bxy+Cy^{2}+Dx+Ey+F=0{\text{ with }}A,B,C{\text{ not all zero.}}\,}$

As scaling all six constants yields the same locus of zeros, one can consider conics as points in the five-dimensional projective space ${\displaystyle \mathbf {P} ^{5}.}$

The conic sections described by this equation can be classified using the discriminant [22]

${\displaystyle B^{2}-4AC.\,}$

If the conic is non-degenerate, then:

• if ${\displaystyle B^{2}-4AC<0}$, the equation represents an ellipse;
• if ${\displaystyle A=C}$ and ${\displaystyle B=0}$, the equation represents a circle, which is a special case of an ellipse;
• if ${\displaystyle B^{2}-4AC=0}$, the equation represents a parabola;
• if ${\displaystyle B^{2}-4AC>0}$, the equation represents a hyperbola;
• if we also have ${\displaystyle A+C=0}$, the equation represents a rectangular hyperbola.

A quadric, or quadric surface, is a 2-dimensional surface in 3-dimensional space defined as the locus of zeros of a quadratic polynomial. In coordinates x1, x2,x3, the general quadric is defined by the algebraic equation [23]

${\displaystyle \sum _{i,j=1}^{3}x_{i}Q_{ij}x_{j}+\sum _{i=1}^{3}P_{i}x_{i}+R=0.}$

Quadric surfaces include ellipsoids (including the sphere), paraboloids, hyperboloids, cylinders, cones, and planes.

## Distance and angle

In analytic geometry, geometric notions such as distance and angle measure are defined using formulas. These definitions are designed to be consistent with the underlying Euclidean geometry. For example, using Cartesian coordinates on the plane, the distance between two points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) is defined by the formula

${\displaystyle d={\sqrt {(x_{2}-x_{1})^{2}+(y_{2}-y_{1})^{2}}},\!}$

which can be viewed as a version of the Pythagorean theorem. Similarly, the angle that a line makes with the horizontal can be defined by the formula

${\displaystyle \theta =\arctan(m),}$

where m is the slope of the line.

In three dimensions, distance is given by the generalization of the Pythagorean theorem:

${\displaystyle d={\sqrt {(x_{2}-x_{1})^{2}+(y_{2}-y_{1})^{2}+(z_{2}-z_{1})^{2}}},\!}$,

while the angle between two vectors is given by the dot product. The dot product of two Euclidean vectors A and B is defined by [24]

${\displaystyle \mathbf {A} \cdot \mathbf {B} {\stackrel {\mathrm {def} }{=}}\|\mathbf {A} \|\,\|\mathbf {B} \|\cos \theta ,}$

where θ is the angle between A and B.

## Transformations

Transformations are applied to a parent function to turn it into a new function with similar characteristics.

The graph of ${\displaystyle R(x,y)}$ is changed by standard transformations as follows:

• Changing ${\displaystyle x}$ to ${\displaystyle x-h}$ moves the graph to the right ${\displaystyle h}$ units.
• Changing ${\displaystyle y}$ to ${\displaystyle y-k}$ moves the graph up ${\displaystyle k}$ units.
• Changing ${\displaystyle x}$ to ${\displaystyle x/b}$ stretches the graph horizontally by a factor of ${\displaystyle b}$. (think of the ${\displaystyle x}$ as being dilated)
• Changing ${\displaystyle y}$ to ${\displaystyle y/a}$ stretches the graph vertically.
• Changing ${\displaystyle x}$ to ${\displaystyle x\cos A+y\sin A}$ and changing ${\displaystyle y}$ to ${\displaystyle -x\sin A+y\cos A}$ rotates the graph by an angle ${\displaystyle A}$.

There are other standard transformation not typically studied in elementary analytic geometry because the transformations change the shape of objects in ways not usually considered. Skewing is an example of a transformation not usually considered. For more information, consult the Wikipedia article on affine transformations.

For example, the parent function ${\displaystyle y=1/x}$ has a horizontal and a vertical asymptote, and occupies the first and third quadrant, and all of its transformed forms have one horizontal and vertical asymptote, and occupies either the 1st and 3rd or 2nd and 4th quadrant. In general, if ${\displaystyle y=f(x)}$, then it can be transformed into ${\displaystyle y=af(b(x-k))+h}$. In the new transformed function, ${\displaystyle a}$ is the factor that vertically stretches the function if it is greater than 1 or vertically compresses the function if it is less than 1, and for negative ${\displaystyle a}$ values, the function is reflected in the ${\displaystyle x}$-axis. The ${\displaystyle b}$ value compresses the graph of the function horizontally if greater than 1 and stretches the function horizontally if less than 1, and like ${\displaystyle a}$, reflects the function in the ${\displaystyle y}$-axis when it is negative. The ${\displaystyle k}$ and ${\displaystyle h}$ values introduce translations, ${\displaystyle h}$, vertical, and ${\displaystyle k}$ horizontal. Positive ${\displaystyle h}$ and ${\displaystyle k}$ values mean the function is translated to the positive end of its axis and negative meaning translation towards the negative end.

Transformations can be applied to any geometric equation whether or not the equation represents a function. Transformations can be considered as individual transactions or in combinations.

Suppose that ${\displaystyle R(x,y)}$ is a relation in the ${\displaystyle xy}$ plane. For example,

${\displaystyle x^{2}+y^{2}-1=0}$

is the relation that describes the unit circle.

## Finding intersections of geometric objects

For two geometric objects P and Q represented by the relations ${\displaystyle P(x,y)}$ and ${\displaystyle Q(x,y)}$ the intersection is the collection of all points ${\displaystyle (x,y)}$ which are in both relations. [25]

For example, ${\displaystyle P}$ might be the circle with radius 1 and center ${\displaystyle (0,0)}$: ${\displaystyle P=\{(x,y)|x^{2}+y^{2}=1\}}$ and ${\displaystyle Q}$ might be the circle with radius 1 and center ${\displaystyle (1,0):Q=\{(x,y)|(x-1)^{2}+y^{2}=1\}}$. The intersection of these two circles is the collection of points which make both equations true. Does the point ${\displaystyle (0,0)}$ make both equations true? Using ${\displaystyle (0,0)}$ for ${\displaystyle (x,y)}$, the equation for ${\displaystyle Q}$ becomes ${\displaystyle (0-1)^{2}+0^{2}=1}$ or ${\displaystyle (-1)^{2}=1}$ which is true, so ${\displaystyle (0,0)}$ is in the relation ${\displaystyle Q}$. On the other hand, still using ${\displaystyle (0,0)}$ for ${\displaystyle (x,y)}$ the equation for ${\displaystyle P}$ becomes ${\displaystyle 0^{2}+0^{2}=1}$ or ${\displaystyle 0=1}$ which is false. ${\displaystyle (0,0)}$ is not in ${\displaystyle P}$ so it is not in the intersection.

The intersection of ${\displaystyle P}$ and ${\displaystyle Q}$ can be found by solving the simultaneous equations:

${\displaystyle x^{2}+y^{2}=1}$
${\displaystyle (x-1)^{2}+y^{2}=1.}$

Traditional methods for finding intersections include substitution and elimination.

Substitution: Solve the first equation for ${\displaystyle y}$ in terms of ${\displaystyle x}$ and then substitute the expression for ${\displaystyle y}$ into the second equation:

${\displaystyle x^{2}+y^{2}=1}$
${\displaystyle y^{2}=1-x^{2}}$.

We then substitute this value for ${\displaystyle y^{2}}$ into the other equation and proceed to solve for ${\displaystyle x}$:

${\displaystyle (x-1)^{2}+(1-x^{2})=1}$
${\displaystyle x^{2}-2x+1+1-x^{2}=1}$
${\displaystyle -2x=-1}$
${\displaystyle x=1/2.}$

Next, we place this value of ${\displaystyle x}$ in either of the original equations and solve for ${\displaystyle y}$:

${\displaystyle (1/2)^{2}+y^{2}=1}$
${\displaystyle y^{2}=3/4}$
${\displaystyle y={\frac {\pm {\sqrt {3}}}{2}}.}$

So our intersection has two points:

${\displaystyle \left(1/2,{\frac {+{\sqrt {3}}}{2}}\right)\;\;\mathrm {and} \;\;\left(1/2,{\frac {-{\sqrt {3}}}{2}}\right).}$

Elimination: Add (or subtract) a multiple of one equation to the other equation so that one of the variables is eliminated. For our current example, if we subtract the first equation from the second we get ${\displaystyle (x-1)^{2}-x^{2}=0}$. The ${\displaystyle y^{2}}$ in the first equation is subtracted from the ${\displaystyle y^{2}}$ in the second equation leaving no ${\displaystyle y}$ term. The variable ${\displaystyle y}$ has been eliminated. We then solve the remaining equation for ${\displaystyle x}$, in the same way as in the substitution method:

${\displaystyle x^{2}-2x+1+1-x^{2}=1}$
${\displaystyle -2x=-1}$
${\displaystyle x=1/2.}$

We then place this value of ${\displaystyle x}$ in either of the original equations and solve for ${\displaystyle y}$:

${\displaystyle (1/2)^{2}+y^{2}=1}$
${\displaystyle y^{2}=3/4}$
${\displaystyle y={\frac {\pm {\sqrt {3}}}{2}}.}$

So our intersection has two points:

${\displaystyle \left(1/2,{\frac {+{\sqrt {3}}}{2}}\right)\;\;\mathrm {and} \;\;\left(1/2,{\frac {-{\sqrt {3}}}{2}}\right).}$

For conic sections, as many as 4 points might be in the intersection.

### Finding intercepts

One type of intersection which is widely studied is the intersection of a geometric object with the ${\displaystyle x}$ and ${\displaystyle y}$ coordinate axes.

The intersection of a geometric object and the ${\displaystyle y}$-axis is called the ${\displaystyle y}$-intercept of the object. The intersection of a geometric object and the ${\displaystyle x}$-axis is called the ${\displaystyle x}$-intercept of the object.

For the line ${\displaystyle y=mx+b}$, the parameter ${\displaystyle b}$ specifies the point where the line crosses the ${\displaystyle y}$ axis. Depending on the context, either ${\displaystyle b}$ or the point ${\displaystyle (0,b)}$ is called the ${\displaystyle y}$-intercept.

## Tangents and normals

### Tangent lines and planes

In geometry, the tangent line (or simply tangent) to a plane curve at a given point is the straight line that "just touches" the curve at that point. Informally, it is a line through a pair of infinitely close points on the curve. More precisely, a straight line is said to be a tangent of a curve y = f(x) at a point x = c on the curve if the line passes through the point (c, f(c)) on the curve and has slope f'(c) where f' is the derivative of f. A similar definition applies to space curves and curves in n-dimensional Euclidean space.

As it passes through the point where the tangent line and the curve meet, called the point of tangency, the tangent line is "going in the same direction" as the curve, and is thus the best straight-line approximation to the curve at that point.

Similarly, the tangent plane to a surface at a given point is the plane that "just touches" the surface at that point. The concept of a tangent is one of the most fundamental notions in differential geometry and has been extensively generalized; see Tangent space.

### Normal line and vector

In geometry, a normal is an object such as a line or vector that is perpendicular to a given object. For example, in the two-dimensional case, the normal line to a curve at a given point is the line perpendicular to the tangent line to the curve at the point.

In the three-dimensional case a surface normal, or simply normal, to a surface at a point P is a vector that is perpendicular to the tangent plane to that surface at P. The word "normal" is also used as an adjective: a line normal to a plane, the normal component of a force, the normal vector, etc. The concept of normality generalizes to orthogonality.

## Notes

1. Boyer, Carl B. (1991). "The Age of Plato and Aristotle". A History of Mathematics (Second ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 94–95. ISBN   0-471-54397-7. Menaechmus apparently derived these properties of the conic sections and others as well. Since this material has a strong resemblance to the use of coordinates, as illustrated above, it has sometimes been maintained that Menaechmus had analytic geometry. Such a judgment is warranted only in part, for certainly Menaechmus was unaware that any equation in two unknown quantities determines a curve. In fact, the general concept of an equation in unknown quantities was alien to Greek thought. It was shortcomings in algebraic notations that, more than anything else, operated against the Greek achievement of a full-fledged coordinate geometry.
2. Boyer, Carl B. (1991). "Apollonius of Perga". A History of Mathematics (Second ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 142. ISBN   0-471-54397-7. The Apollonian treatise On Determinate Section dealt with what might be called an analytic geometry of one dimension. It considered the following general problem, using the typical Greek algebraic analysis in geometric form: Given four points A, B, C, D on a straight line, determine a fifth point P on it such that the rectangle on AP and CP is in a given ratio to the rectangle on BP and DP. Here, too, the problem reduces easily to the solution of a quadratic; and, as in other cases, Apollonius treated the question exhaustively, including the limits of possibility and the number of solutions.
3. Boyer, Carl B. (1991). "Apollonius of Perga". A History of Mathematics (Second ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 156. ISBN   0-471-54397-7. The method of Apollonius in the Conics in many respects are so similar to the modern approach that his work sometimes is judged to be an analytic geometry anticipating that of Descartes by 1800 years. The application of references lines in general, and of a diameter and a tangent at its extremity in particular, is, of course, not essentially different from the use of a coordinate frame, whether rectangular or, more generally, oblique. Distances measured along the diameter from the point of tangency are the abscissas, and segments parallel to the tangent and intercepted between the axis and the curve are the ordinates. The Apollonian relationship between these abscissas and the corresponding ordinates are nothing more nor less than rhetorical forms of the equations of the curves. However, Greek geometric algebra did not provide for negative magnitudes; moreover, the coordinate system was in every case superimposed a posteriori upon a given curve in order to study its properties. There appear to be no cases in ancient geometry in which a coordinate frame of reference was laid down a priori for purposes of graphical representation of an equation or relationship, whether symbolically or rhetorically expressed. Of Greek geometry we may say that equations are determined by curves, but not that curves are determined by equations. Coordinates, variables, and equations were subsidiary notions derived from a specific geometric situation; [...] That Apollonius, the greatest geometer of antiquity, failed to develop analytic geometry, was probably the result of a poverty of curves rather than of thought. General methods are not necessary when problems concern always one of a limited number of particular cases.
4. Boyer (1991). "The Arabic Hegemony". A History of Mathematics. pp. 241–242. Omar Khayyam (ca. 1050–1123), the "tent-maker," wrote an Algebra that went beyond that of al-Khwarizmi to include equations of third degree. Like his Arab predecessors, Omar Khayyam provided for quadratic equations both arithmetic and geometric solutions; for general cubic equations, he believed (mistakenly, as the sixteenth century later showed), arithmetic solutions were impossible; hence he gave only geometric solutions. The scheme of using intersecting conics to solve cubics had been used earlier by Menaechmus, Archimedes, and Alhazan, but Omar Khayyam took the praiseworthy step of generalizing the method to cover all third-degree equations (having positive roots). For equations of higher degree than three, Omar Khayyam evidently did not envision similar geometric methods, for space does not contain more than three dimensions, ... One of the most fruitful contributions of Arabic eclecticism was the tendency to close the gap between numerical and geometric algebra. The decisive step in this direction came much later with Descartes, but Omar Khayyam was moving in this direction when he wrote, "Whoever thinks algebra is a trick in obtaining unknowns has thought it in vain. No attention should be paid to the fact that algebra and geometry are different in appearance. Algebras are geometric facts which are proved."
5. Glen M. Cooper (2003). "Omar Khayyam, the Mathematician", The Journal of the American Oriental Society123.
6. Cooper, G. (2003). Journal of the American Oriental Society,123(1), 248-249.
7. Stillwell, John (2004). "Analytic Geometry". Mathematics and its History (Second ed.). Springer Science + Business Media Inc. p. 105. ISBN   0-387-95336-1. the two founders of analytic geometry, Fermat and Descartes, were both strongly influenced by these developments.
8. Boyer 2004 , p. 74
9. Cooke, Roger (1997). "The Calculus". The History of Mathematics: A Brief Course. Wiley-Interscience. p. 326. ISBN   0-471-18082-3. The person who is popularly credited with being the discoverer of analytic geometry was the philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650), one of the most influential thinkers of the modern era.
10. Boyer 2004 , p. 82
11. Katz 1998 , pg. 442
12. Katz 1998 , pg. 436
13. Pierre de Fermat, Varia Opera Mathematica d. Petri de Fermat, Senatoris Tolosani (Toulouse, France: Jean Pech, 1679), "Ad locos planos et solidos isagoge," pp. 91–103.
14. "Eloge de Monsieur de Fermat" (Eulogy of Mr. de Fermat), Le Journal des Scavans, 9 February 1665, pp. 69–72. From p. 70: "Une introduction aux lieux, plans & solides; qui est un traité analytique concernant la solution des problemes plans & solides, qui avoit esté veu devant que M. des Cartes eut rien publié sur ce sujet." (An introduction to loci, plane and solid; which is an analytical treatise concerning the solution of plane and solid problems, which was seen before Mr. des Cartes had published anything on this subject.)
15. Stewart, James (2008). Calculus: Early Transcendentals, 6th ed., Brooks Cole Cengage Learning. ISBN   978-0-495-01166-8
16. Percey Franklyn Smith, Arthur Sullivan Gale (1905)Introduction to Analytic Geometry, Athaeneum Press
17. William H. McCrea, Analytic Geometry of Three Dimensions Courier Dover Publications, Jan 27, 2012
18. Anton 1994 , p. 155
19. Anton 1994 , p. 156
20. Weisstein, Eric W. (2009), "Plane", MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource, retrieved 2009-08-08
21. Fanchi, John R. (2006), Math refresher for scientists and engineers, John Wiley and Sons, pp. 44–45, ISBN   0-471-75715-2
22. Silvio Levy Quadrics in "Geometry Formulas and Facts", excerpted from 30th Edition of CRC Standard Mathematical Tables and Formulas, CRC Press, from The Geometry Center at University of Minnesota
23. M.R. Spiegel; S. Lipschutz; D. Spellman (2009). Vector Analysis (Schaum’s Outlines) (2nd ed.). McGraw Hill. ISBN   978-0-07-161545-7.
24. While this discussion is limited to the xy-plane, it can easily be extended to higher dimensions.

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