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

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

It is on the latter or ideal element that Kant makes the emphasis increasingly turn.

From Hegel's Philosophy of Mind by Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich

Knowledge, or science, he says, is a process of following out the ideal element in experience.

From John Dewey's logical theory by Howard, Delton Thomas

Denying that life has an ideal element, they take pains to mirror it, line for line, and blemish for blemish.

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 Atkins, Elizabeth

But the moment it is admitted that there is a beauty of form independent of the ideal element, this theory can no longer stand.

From The Psychology of Beauty by Howes, Ethel Dench Puffer