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A tangent line is NEVER vertical to a function. It is vertical to the normal to the function - which is as far from vertical as you can get!

The graph of a function, f(x) can have a tangent at a point. Let's call the point (x0,f(x0)). If f'(x) goes to positive infinity or f'(x) goes to negative infinity as x approaches x0 then f(x) has a vertical tangent at that point.

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Q: How do you find whether a tangent line is vertical to a function?
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How do you find a tangent line?

Say you are given a function and an x value.(1) First find the y coordinate that corresponds to that x value by plugging x into the function and simplifying to find y = some #. Now you have a point (x, y) that is not only on the function, but also on the tangent line.(2) Take the derivative of the function.(3) If the derivative still has xs in it, plug in the x value you were given and simplify. This should give you an actual number--the slope of the tangent line.(4) From steps 1 and 3, you now have a point on the tangent line and the slope of the tangent line. Use these two things to write the equation for the tangent line in y=mx+b form (m is the sope, plug in the point you found, solve for b, then rewrite the equation replacing m and b but leaving in x and y).


How do you find x assume that segments that appear tangent are tangent?

A tangent refers to the way in which a curve is measured. The amount of deviation from the segment line is measures, then a formula applied to find the tangent.


How do you use a vertical line test to determine if a graph represents a function?

A vertical test line is useful because, by definition, a function has one and only one result value for each input value. If you can find a vertical line that intersects the curve of the line, then it is not a function. A simple example is a circle.


How do you find the equation of a parabola if you know the equation of the tangent that touches it?

You need more than one tangent to find the equation of a parabola.


Does a trigonometry tangent relate to a circle's tangent?

A circle's tangent is exactly the same as a triangle's tangent. If you look at a circle, you can make the radius the hypotenuse. Then make a vertical line from the point, and a horizontal line from the center. If you look, you have a triangle made inside the circle. This is why angles can be measured in radians, a unit that is derived from the circumference of a circle.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------By doing a little calculus, we find that the slope of the equation of a circle-the slope of the tangent line-is given by the tangent of an angle.AnswerEverything written above is correct, but doesn't have anything to do with tangents (in the circle sense of the word). Suppose you're given an angle theta. Draw a circle together with two radii, one horizontal and the other at an angle theta from the first one. (So far, this is the same as above.) Now draw the tangent to the circle at X, the point where the non-horizontal radius meets the circumference. Let Y be the point where this tangent meets the horizontal line through the centre. Then, assuming the radius is 1, tan(theta) is the distance XY, which is the length of part of the tangent.

Related questions

How do you find the slope of a tangent?

Take the derivative of the function.


Find the slope of a tangent line to the graph?

Use the four-step process to find the slope of the tangent line to the graph of the given function at any point.


How do you get a tangent of 1?

To find the tangent of 1, you can use the inverse tangent function (arctan) on a calculator. Simply input 1 into the arctan function and calculate the result. The tangent of 1 is approximately 0.7854.


What is an easy equation for finding the normal line?

The first thing you may want to do would be to find the tangent line to the function. The tangent line is a line that passes through a given point on a function, but does not touch any other point on the function (assuming the function is one to one). Assuming you have the tangent line, the normal line is simply perpendicular to the tangent line- it forms a 90 degree angle with the tangent line. One you have the tangent line and the point which it passes through, you can find the normal line. To obtain the perpendicular line to any function, take the inverse reciprocal of the slope (if your slope was 2, it is now -.5). After that, plug in your (x, y) coordinate, and you can solve for the constant b (assuming there is one). This should give the normal line to a tangent of at a point on a function.


How do you find vertical asymptote?

One way to find a vertical asymptote is to take the inverse of the given function and evaluate its limit as x tends to infinity.


How do you find the period of tangent function?

You find the smallest positive value y such that tan(x + y) = tan(x) for all x.


How do you find a tangent line?

Say you are given a function and an x value.(1) First find the y coordinate that corresponds to that x value by plugging x into the function and simplifying to find y = some #. Now you have a point (x, y) that is not only on the function, but also on the tangent line.(2) Take the derivative of the function.(3) If the derivative still has xs in it, plug in the x value you were given and simplify. This should give you an actual number--the slope of the tangent line.(4) From steps 1 and 3, you now have a point on the tangent line and the slope of the tangent line. Use these two things to write the equation for the tangent line in y=mx+b form (m is the sope, plug in the point you found, solve for b, then rewrite the equation replacing m and b but leaving in x and y).


Why is the secant function is an even function and the tangent and cosecant are odd functions?

I find it convenient to express other trigonometric functions in terms of sine and cosine - that tends to simplify things. The secant function is even because it is the reciprocal of the cosine function, which is even. The tangent function is the sine divided by the cosine - an odd function divided by an even function. Therefore it is odd. The cosecant is the reciprocal of an odd function, so it is naturally also an odd function.


How do you find the slope of an Indifference curve?

You find the tangent to the curve at the point of interest and then find the slope of the tangent.


How do you find x assume that segments that appear tangent are tangent?

A tangent refers to the way in which a curve is measured. The amount of deviation from the segment line is measures, then a formula applied to find the tangent.


How do you use a vertical line test to determine if a graph represents a function?

A vertical test line is useful because, by definition, a function has one and only one result value for each input value. If you can find a vertical line that intersects the curve of the line, then it is not a function. A simple example is a circle.


How do you differentiate and find the tangent?

When you differentiate a function, you find the slope of the function. The slope is also known as the tangent. The slope of a line, given one point, and a second point relative to the first point, but with x different, is given as delta y over delta x. Differentiation is simply taking the limit of the slope, i.e. where delta x approaches zero.