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circle – convex
circle
In a plane, the locus of all points equidistant from a given point, called the center. The general equation for a circle in the Cartesian plane is given by (x - h) 2 + (y - k) 2 = r 2, where r is the radius of the circle (distance from the center to the locus of points), and (h, k) are the coordinates of the center.
The interior of a circle is referred to as an open disk.
 A circle is also a conic section; a special case of an ellipse in which the foci coincide.
Related article: Conics
circumference
Geometry: The distance around a circle in the plane, or around a great circle of a sphere.
Graph Theory: The circumference of a graph G is defined as the length of the longest cycle of G. The circumference is ususally denoted by c(G), and is undefined if G has no cycles.
closed
General: A set is closed under an operation if applying the operation to its elements returns only elements in the set. For example, the set of integers is closed under addition, since adding two integers always gives another integer, but it is not closed under division, since dividing two integers may result in a non-integer.
Geometry: A plane figure is closed if it consists of lines and/or curves that entirely enclose an area. Similarly, a figure in 3-dimensional space is called closed if it entirely encloses a volume.
See the following listings for other uses of the word “closed” in mathematics.
Topology: A set is topologically closed if it is not open.
closed interval
An interval of the real number line (or any other totally ordered set) which includes its endpoints. An interval containing only one of its endpoints is called half-open.
Cf. open interval.
coefficient
See polynomial.
combination
A subselection of a set of r elements from a set of n elements. The number of such combinations, i.e., the number of ways in which r elements may be chosen from a set of n elements, is given by the formula
This operation is also sometimes denoted by nC r, and is read “n choose r.”
Cf. permutation, factorial.
common logarithm
A logarithm with base 10.
commutative
An operation “ · ” on elements of a set A is commutative if for all elements a, b in A, a · b = b · a.
Cf. associative, distributive property.
commutative property
A property of numbers which states that the operations of addition and multiplication are commutative. Cf. distributive property, associative.
complement
The complement of a set A is the set of all elements that are not elements of A.
Graph Theory: The complement of a simple graph G with vertex set V is the simple graph Gc, which also has vertex set V, and in which two vertices are adjacent if and only if they are not adjacent in G.
complementary angles
Two angles are complementary if they add up to a right angle.
complex number
An element of the set C of numbers of the form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i 2 = -1. The number i is called the imaginary number.
concave
A region of space is concave if there are two points of the region such that a line joining the two points is not entirely contained within the region. In particular, a polygon is concave if any of its interior angles is greater than 180°.
Cf. convex.
conditional statement
A statement of the form “if A then B,” or “A implies B.” A conditional is equivalent to its contrapositive, “not B implies not A.” See also: inverse statement and converse statement.
cone
ARTICLE
The infinite surface of revolution generated as shown
The term also refers to the solid bounded by one of the nappes and a flat elliptical base. If in this case the base is circular (at right angles to the axis), the cone is called a right circular cone. The surface area S (excluding the base) and volume V of a right circular cone are given by
Cf. conic section.
conic section
ARTICLE
A plane curve, either the ellipse, parabola, or hyperbola, which results from the intersection of a plane with a cone. See the article for a full exposition
Cf. Dandelin's Spheres.
constant
An unvarying quantity, usually represented notationally by an alphabetic letter such as ‘k,’ ‘c,’ etc.
continuum
In mathematics, the real numbers or real number line.
Related article: Gödel's Theorems
Related MiniText: Infinity -- You Can't Get There From Here...
contradiction
An assertion that some statement is simultaneously true and false.
When a contradiction arises in mathematics, it is an indication that a mistaken assumption has been made, and this is often used to write “proofs by contradiction,” a strategy in which the negation of the statement to be proved is assumed, and a contradiction then derived. The contradiction is then taken as proving the original (non-negated) statement. (This strategy relies on the supposition that the mathematical theory under discussion is itself consistent, that is, free of contradiction.)
It sometimes happens that a contradiction arises, and yet none of the assumptions leading to the contradiction can be sacrificed. This is known as a paradox. If the assumptions are formal axioms, the result is called an antinomy.
converse statement
Given a conditional, i.e., a statement of the form “if A then B,” or “A implies B,” its converse is “B implies A.” A conditional neither implies nor is implied by its converse. However, the converse of a conditional and its inverse are logically equivalent, since they are contrapositives of each other.
convex
Naively, a region of space is convex if the line segement joining any two points of the region lies wholly within it. Thus, a polygon is convex if every line segment joining any two points on its sides lies entirely within the polygon. (This is equivalent to the condition that all its interior angles be less than 180°.)
More generally, a region in a real vector space is convex if whenever two points x and y are in the region then so is any point tx + (1 - t)y, where t lies in the interval [0, 1]. See the immediately following entries for additional uses of the descriptor “convex.”
Cf. concave.
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