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perpendicular lines intersect each other at 90 degrees whereas parallel lines never intersect each other and remain equal distance apart from each other.

Obviously the way to test if two lines are parallel is to measure their distance from each other at at least two points (the farther apart the better) to confirm that they remain equal distance apart, but to test if lines are perpendicular, with a compass with the point at the point where the two lines intersect, draw an arc (or three parts of an arc) that intersects one of the lines in two places and the other line in one place. If the distances between the lines at the points where they are intersected by the arc are equal, the lines are perpendicular.

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Q: How would you know if lines a perpendicular or parallel?
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Are railway lines parallel or perpendicular?

Railway lines are parallel. 2 lines are said to be parallel when they are contained in the same plane and do not intersect. This is the definition. That parallel lines exist is an assumption (postulate) of Euclidean geometry:Parallel lines are like the rails of a train track, and you might think of defining them this way, as lines that are the same distance apart everywhere. The problem with this kind of definition is it assumes both tracks are straight. Though this seems an obvious possibility, when you go into the vast universe it is not that obvious. Parallel lines puzzled the best mathematicians for centuries until it was realized that we must assume they exist (you can't prove they exist from simpler postulates). The problem with parallel lines lies in the notion that the lines have infinite extent.Euclid used a somewhat different parallel postulate in trying to avoid the notion of the infinite. He observed that when two parallel lines are intersected by a third line, called a transversal, then if you measure two angles formed by these three lines, on the same side of the transversal and between the parallels, they will add to (that is, they will be supplementary). Such angles are called same-side interior angles.Another important concept is perpendicular. By definition, two lines are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles. That is, two perpendicular lines form 4 right angles. Segments and rays can also be perpendicular. This means they intersect in at least one point, and the two lines containing them are perpendicular.We use perpendicular segments to measure the distance from a point to a line, a point to a plane, or the distance between two parallel lines or planes. The ties of a railroad track are perpendicular to the rails and of the same length. This common length is the distance between the rails. (If parallel lines exist, then railroad tracks in space can go on forever.)There are three theorems about perpendicular lines that you should know. We will not attempt to prove them here, but if you think about them they should be rather obvious.We can use this fact to define the distance from a point to a line: That distance is the length of a segment perpendicular to the line with the given point as one of its endpoints and the other endpoint on the line. In fact, a similar notion holds in 3 dimensions. If we have a plane and a point not on that plane, then there is only one line through the point perpendicular to the plane, and the length of the segment determined by that point and the intersection of the perpendicular line with the plane is defined as the distance from the point to.


What if there were no parallel lines?

Then civilisation and society as we know it today would have never evolved because parallel lines are needed in engineering, carpentary, buildings, mathematics, the shapes of some letters and of course there would be no trains. All lines in any one plane would intersect each other. (But they wouldn't necessarily intersect lines in other planes.)


How do you find the slope of a parallel line?

Parallel lines have the same slope. So if you know the slope of a line in question, or you can calculate it, then you know the slope of any line parallel to that line.


Does every line have an infinite number of lines perpendicular to the given line?

Yes. There can be a line perpendicular to the given line at every point on it, and you know how many different points there are on it ...


What is the equation of a line that is perpendicular to and passes through the point (4 6)?

That would depend on its slope which has not been given.

Related questions

What is parallel perpendicular lines look like?

As far as we know, two lines can be perpendicular, or they can be parallel, but they can't be both.


How many perpendicular pairs does a decagon have?

10, A decagon has a maximum of five pairs of perpendicular lines, and a maximum of 5 parallel lines. however, this isn't in black and white it can have no pairs of line either perpendicular or parallel. know write the answer clearly


Why is parallel lines defined?

Otherwise nobody would know what was meant by parallel lines!


Does a trapezoid have a pair of perpendicular lines?

The only requirement for a trapezoid is that one pair of opposite sides be parallel. There could be trapezoids with a pair of perpendicular lines.


What is a Set of lines that are not parallel or perpendicular?

Please read both answers in case that's what you know because there are two names.a set of lines that are not parallel or perpendicular are called normal lines because no one has thought of a name but one young man in 2000 also came up with the word PARAPENDICEL. {para - pen - dic - eel} he came from a place called abbey mead in Gloucestershire.a set of lines that are not parallel or perpendicular arecalled anomeus lines.


Why is it important to know the difference between parallel vs perpendicular?

perpendicular cross parallel do not


If two parallel lines are perpendicular to the same line what must be true for all three lines?

l dnot relly know but it is a


If two lines are parallel what do you know about their slopes?

If two lines are parallel, they have the same slope.(And if they are perpendicular, the product of their slopes is minus one - unless one line is horizontal and the other vertical.)


What quadrilateral has two right angles one set of parallel lines and two sets of perpendicular lines?

If by two sets of perpendicular lines you mean two pairs of perpendicular lines we can do it. One set of parallel lines is easy so draw that as the first and second lines A right angle from one of them will intersect the other at a right angle so that's the third line and the right angles sorted. The fourth side cannot be parallel to the third so draw it at an angle to the third. We now have two right angles, one set of parallel lines and two pairs of perpendicular lines, first and third, and second and third. What we call it depends on where we are. In the UK it is called a trapezium and in the USA a trapezoid. I'm afraid I don't know naming conventions in other countries.


What are lines that intersect at right angles know as?

"perpendicular lines"


Would parallel is cool but don't know what it is?

Parallel means two separate lines in the same direction.


How many perpendicular lines are there in a diamond?

Diamonds come in all shapes and sizes, which determine the number of perpendicular lines (assuming you are referring to the edges as the lines) so there is no one number of lines or perpendicular lines on a diamond.