Question

The tangents drawn at the end of a diameter of a circle are ______.

Options

• Perpendicular

• parallel

• congruent

• can’t say

Answer 1

parallel

Explanation:

Let O be the centre and A, B the endpoints of the diameter. OA and OB are collinear (one straight line). The tangent at a point is perpendicular to the radius at that point, so the tangent at A is perpendicular to OA and the tangent at B is perpendicular to OB; both tangents are therefore perpendicular to the same line, hence they are parallel.