radical axis

American  

noun

Geometry.

1. the line such that tangents drawn from any point of the line to two given circles are equal in length.

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radical axis British  

noun

1. a line from any point of which tangents to two given circles are of equal length. It is the line joining the points of intersection of two circles

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Etymology

Origin of radical axis

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

radical axis

The common chord of two intersecting circles is a special case of their radical axis, and tangents to the circles from any point on the radical axis are equal.

From The Teaching of Geometry by David Eugene Smith

The line PBA is sometimes called the radical axis.

From The Teaching of Geometry by David Eugene Smith

Sad is it for the State when this force is called into play, and the radical axis is a standing menace to the stability of States and nations.

From The Romance of Mathematics Being the Original Researches of a Lady Professor of Girtham College in Polemical Science, with some Account of the Social Properties of a Conic; Equations to Brain Waves; Social Forces; and the Laws of Political Motion. by P. Hampson

There are several methods of constructing the radical axis in this case.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 4 "Cincinnatus" to "Cleruchy" by Various

The intersections which lie on the radical axis are two out of the four intersections of the two circles.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 8 "Cube" to "Daguerre, Louis" by Various