Tangent to the Hyperbola

In conic section geometry, a straight line is known as the tangent to a hyperbola. If this straight line meets the hyperbola at precisely one it is known as the tangent to a hyperbola, and it is shown by the following diagram.

When the straight line cuts the hyperbola from two distinct points it is called the secant line, and the third case is that a given straight line neither touches nor cuts the hyperbola. The details of tangent and secant lines to the hyperbola will be discussed in later lectures.