Line segment

In geometry, a line segment is a part of a

line that is bounded by two distinct end
points, and contains every point on the line
between its endpoints. A closed line
segment includes both endpoints, while an
open line segment excludes both
endpoints; a half-open line segment
includes exactly one of the endpoints. In
geometry, a line segment is often denoted
using a line above the symbols for the two
endpoints (such as ).[1][2]

The geometric definition of a closed line segment: the

intersection of all points at or to the right of A with all
points at or to the left of B

historical image – create a line segment (1699)

Examples of line segments include the
sides of a triangle or square. More
generally, when both of the segment's end
points are vertices of a polygon or
polyhedron, the line segment is either an
edge (of that polygon or polyhedron) if
they are adjacent vertices, or a diagonal.
When the end points both lie on a curve
(such as a circle), a line segment is called
a chord (of that curve).

In real or complex vector

spaces
If V is a vector space over or , and L is
a subset of V, then L is a line segment if L
can be parameterized as

for some vectors . In which

case, the vectors u and u + v are called the
end points of L.

Sometimes, one needs to distinguish

between "open" and "closed" line
segments. In this case, one would define a
closed line segment as above, and an
open line segment as a subset L that can
be parametrized as
for some vectors .

Equivalently, a line segment is the convex

hull of two points. Thus, the line segment
can be expressed as a convex
combination of the segment's two end
points.

In geometry, one might define point B to be

between two other points A and C, if the
distance AB added to the distance BC is
equal to the distance AC. Thus in , the
line segment with endpoints A = (ax, ay)
and C = (cx, cy) is the following collection
of points:
 .

Properties
A line segment is a connected, non-
empty set.
If V is a topological vector space, then a
closed line segment is a closed set in V.
However, an open line segment is an
open set in V if and only if V is one-
dimensional.
More generally than above, the concept
of a line segment can be defined in an
ordered geometry.
 A pair of line segments can be any one
of the following: intersecting, parallel,
skew, or none of these. The last
possibility is a way that line segments
differ from lines: if two nonparallel lines
are in the same Euclidean plane then
they must cross each other, but that
need not be true of segments.

In proofs
In an axiomatic treatment of geometry, the
notion of betweenness is either assumed
to satisfy a certain number of axioms, or
defined in terms of an isometry of a line
(used as a coordinate system).
Segments play an important role in other
theories. For example, a set is convex if
the segment that joins any two points of
the set is contained in the set. This is
important because it transforms some of
the analysis of convex sets, to the analysis
of a line segment. The segment addition
postulate can be used to add congruent
segment or segments with equal lengths,
and consequently substitute other
segments into another statement to make
segments congruent.

As a degenerate ellipse
A line segment can be viewed as a
degenerate case of an ellipse, in which the
semiminor axis goes to zero, the foci go to
the endpoints, and the eccentricity goes to
one. A standard definition of an ellipse is
the set of points for which the sum of a
point's distances to two foci is a constant;
if this constant equals the distance
between the foci, the line segment is the
result. A complete orbit of this ellipse
traverses the line segment twice. As a
degenerate orbit, this is a radial elliptic
trajectory.

In other geometric shapes

In addition to appearing as the edges and
diagonals of polygons and polyhedra, line
segments also appear in numerous other
locations relative to other geometric
shapes.

Triangles …

Some very frequently considered

segments in a triangle to include the three
altitudes (each perpendicularly connecting
a side or its extension to the opposite
vertex), the three medians (each
connecting a side's midpoint to the
opposite vertex), the perpendicular
bisectors of the sides (perpendicularly
connecting the midpoint of a side to one
of the other sides), and the internal angle
bisectors (each connecting a vertex to the
opposite side). In each case, there are
various equalities relating these segment
lengths to others (discussed in the articles
on the various types of segment), as well
as various inequalities.

Other segments of interest in a triangle

include those connecting various triangle
centers to each other, most notably the
incenter, the circumcenter, the nine-point
center, the centroid and the orthocenter.

Quadrilaterals …
In addition to the sides and diagonals of a
quadrilateral, some important segments
are the two bimedians (connecting the
midpoints of opposite sides) and the four
maltitudes (each perpendicularly
connecting one side to the midpoint of the
opposite side).

Circles and ellipses …

Any straight line segment connecting two

points on a circle or ellipse is called a
chord. Any chord in a circle which has no
longer chord is called a diameter, and any
segment connecting the circle's center
(the midpoint of a diameter) to a point on
the circle is called a radius.

In an ellipse, the longest chord, which is

also the longest diameter, is called the
major axis, and a segment from the
midpoint of the major axis (the ellipse's
center) to either endpoint of the major axis
is called a semi-major axis. Similarly, the
shortest diameter of an ellipse is called
the minor axis, and the segment from its
midpoint (the ellipse's center) to either of
its endpoints is called a semi-minor axis.
The chords of an ellipse which are
perpendicular to the major axis and pass
through one of its foci are called the latera
recta of the ellipse. The interfocal segment
connects the two foci.

Directed line segment

When a line segment is given an
orientation (direction) it suggests a
translation or perhaps a force tending to
make a translation. The magnitude and
direction are indicative of a potential
change. This suggestion has been
absorbed into mathematical physics
through the concept of a Euclidean
vector.[3][4] The collection of all directed
line segments is usually reduced by
making "equivalent" any pair having the
same length and orientation.[5] This
application of an equivalence relation
dates from Giusto Bellavitis’s introduction
of the concept of equipollence of directed
line segments in 1835.

Generalizations
Analogous to straight line segments
above, one can also define arcs as
segments of a curve.

See also
Broken line
Interval (mathematics)
 Line (geometry)
Line segment intersection, the
algorithmic problem of finding
intersecting pairs in a collection of line
segments
Spirangle
Segment addition postulate

Notes
1. "List of Geometry and Trigonometry
Symbols" . Math Vault. 2020-04-17.
Retrieved 2020-09-01.
2. "Line Segment Definition - Math Open
Reference" . www.mathopenref.com.
Retrieved 2020-09-01.
 3. Harry F. Davis & Arthur David Snider
(1988) Introduction to Vector Analysis,
5th edition, page 1, Wm. C. Brown
Publishers ISBN 0-697-06814-5
4. Matiur Rahman & Isaac Mulolani
(2001) Applied Vector Analysis, pages
9 & 10, CRC Press ISBN 0-8493-1088-1
5. Eutiquio C. Young (1978) Vector and
Tensor Analysis, pages 2 & 3, Marcel
Dekker ISBN 0-8247-6671-7

References
David Hilbert The Foundations of
Geometry. The Open Court Publishing
Company 1950, p. 4
External links

Wikimedia Commons has media

related to Line segment.

Look up line segment in Wiktionary,

the free dictionary.

Weisstein, Eric W. "Line segment" .

MathWorld.
Line Segment at PlanetMath
Copying a line segment with compass
and straightedge
Dividing a line segment into N equal
parts with compass and straightedge
Animated demonstration
This article incorporates material from Line
segment on PlanetMath, which is licensed
under the Creative Commons
Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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