Download DEFINITIONS and GLOSSARY • Graph paper: paper

DEFINITIONS and GLOSSARY
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Graph paper: paper with small ruled squares, used in math classes
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Natural number: one of the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3…
Integer: one of the numbers … -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2…
Rational number: a number that can be written as a fraction a/b, where a and b are integers
Even number: an integer that is divisible by 2
Odd number: an integer that is not divisible by 2
Naught (or nought, pronounced as “not”): the British word for "zero”. It is often used to
indicate 0 subscripts, so would be spoken as " naught."
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Straight line: a line with no curvature or angles
Isosceles triangle: a triangle with two equal sides
Right angle: an angle formed by two perpendicular lines; a 90o angle
Right triangle: a triangle that contains a right angle; a right triangle has a hypotenuse and
two legs
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Midpoint: the point that divides a line segment into two congruent parts
Median: the line segment extending from a vertex of a triangle to the midpoint of the
opposite side
Altitude: the line segment from one vertex of a triangle that is perpendicular to the opposite
side
Angle bisector: a straight line that divides an angle into two congruent angles
Perpendicular bisector of a segment AB: the line perpendicular to the segment at its
midpoint.
The perpendicular bisector of a line segment AB is the set of all points in a plane that are
equidistant from the endpoints A, B.
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 Point-slope equation: a line with a slope m passing through a known point (x0, y0) has the
equation
y – y0 = m(x-x0)
 slope-intercept equation: y = mx + q
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Parabola: the set of all points in a plane which are equidistant from a fixed point F, called
the focus, and a fixed line d (not containing F), called the directrix.
Axis of symmetry of a parabola: the line through the vertex perpendicular to the directrix
quadratic equation: ax2 + bx + c = 0
to solve a quadratic equation we use the quadratic formula
solution to a system of equations
to sketch the graph of a curve; to graph a curve or a function
x – axis
y – axis
symmetric with respect to