Concept in Definition ABC

The concept of ray is part of a discipline mathematics, the geometry (more specifically from Euclidean geometry). In geometry the structures of the geometric figures and for this, terms such as area are handled, volume, angle, line, ray, point and others.

If we look at the word semi-straight, it is possible to observe the combination of two terms, semi and straight, which in both cases come from Latin (semi means mean and straight comes from rectus).

Lines, Rays, and Segments

Geometrically, a line is a line that has neither beginning nor end, although it can also be defined as an infinite succession of aligned points. If we divide a line into two parts from a point, each of the parts is a ray. In other words, a ray is integrated into a line. On the other hand, if two points appear on a line, the section between one and the other is known as a segment. In this way, the concepts of point, line, ray and segment represent the basic and fundamental elements of any geometric proposal.

These geometric concepts have a clear intuitive component and it is not necessary to demonstrate what a point, a line, a ray or a segment is.

Delving into the idea of ​​ray

If we focus on the idea of ​​ray, we must indicate the following:

1) the line has neither beginning nor end and, therefore, it is prolonged towards infinity,

2) By incorporating a point on a line, said point creates two rays, which have a specific principle (the point that divides them both) but they have no end, since they extend towards infinity in both directions and

3) in the case of a segment, having two reference points it is possible to indicate a beginning and an end.

Euclidean geometry

Geometry is the study of figures composed of lines and points. Some of the basic figures are the square, the rectangle, the circle and the triangle. The term geometry literally means measurement of the earth (geo is earth and metria comes from metron or measurement).

This discipline was created by the Greeks and Babylonians of antiquity and, more specifically, it was the mathematician Greek Euclid who established the fundamental principles of this discipline as we know it in the present. The main contributions of Euclides are collected in the treatise known as "The elements", in which it is possible to find the postulates of geometry, that is, the point, the line, the ray and the segment.

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