what is the secant and tangent segment theorem?
First of all, we must define a secant segment. A secant segment is a segment with one endpoint on a circle, one endpoint outside the circle, and one point between these points that intersects the circle. Three theorems exist concerning the above segments.
Given a point outside a circle, two lines can be drawn through that point that are tangent to the circle. The tangent segments whose endpoints are the points of tangency and the fixed point outside the circle are equal. In other words, tangent segments drawn to the same circle from the same point (there are two for every circle) are equal. Figure %: Tangent segments that share an endpoint not on the circle are equal.