circle

5 ENTRIES FOUND:

circle

Geometrical curve, one of the conic sections, consisting of the set of all points the same distance (the radius) from a given point (the centre). A line connecting any two points on a circle is called a chord, and a chord passing through the centre is called a diameter. The distance around a circle (the circumference) equals the length of a diameter multiplied by (see pi). The area of a circle is the square of the radius multiplied by . An arc consists of any part of a circle encompassed by an angle with its vertex at the centre (central angle). Its length is in the same proportion to the circumference as the central angle is to a full revolution.

This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica Concise.
For the full entry on circle, visit Britannica.com.

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