ideal element

British  

noun

1. any element added to a mathematical theory in order to eliminate special cases. The ideal element i = √–1 allows all algebraic equations to be solved and the point at infinity ( ideal point ) ensures that any two lines in projective geometry intersect

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ideal element

As the lightest metal on the periodic table, and the one most eager to shed its electrons, lithium is the ideal element to make powerful, portable batteries.

From Nature ● Oct. 27, 2015

Yet it is just after such a perusal that the absolute lack of the ideal element is so strongly borne in upon us.

From Maria Edgeworth by Helen Zimmern

On the other hand, to the poet who denies the ideal element in life altogether, the unifying influence of love is indispensable.

From The Poet's Poet : essays on the character and mission of the poet as interpreted in English verse of the last one hundred and fifty years by Elizabeth Atkins

Here also we find a religion which was formerly a rude intercourse between barbarous men and savage gods, clothing itself with an ideal element.

From History of Religion A Sketch of Primitive Religious Beliefs and Practices, and of the Origin and Character of the Great Systems by Allan Menzies

In this shape, he represents the ideal element in things solely, and is our champion and our helper and we his helpers, against the bad parts of the universe.

From A Pluralistic Universe Hibbert Lectures at Manchester College on the Present Situation in Philosophy by William James