Secant of a Circle

A straight line that intersects a circle at any two points is called the secant line to a circle.

Introduction

The straight lines are often intersect the circles for some reasons in geometric mathematics. In some cases, the straight lines enter into the interior of the circles. In this case, a straight line can possibly intersect any circle at a maximum of two different points and the straight line is called the secant line to a circle.

When a straight line intersects a circle at two distinct points, the two points of the secant line lie on the circle.

Example

$P$ and $Q$ are any two points on the circumference of a circle.

$\overleftrightarrow{FG}$ is a straight line and it intersects the circle at two points $P$ and $Q$. So, the straight line $\overleftrightarrow{FG}$ is known as a secant of the circle at points $P$ and $Q$.