What describes the middle ordinate?

What describes the middle ordinate?

• A. A line drawn from the center to the circle
• B. A line drawn at right angles from the midpoint of a chord to the circle
• C. The intersection of two tangents
• D. A line around the circumference

Answer: (B)

The middle ordinate is the line segment that goes from the midpoint of a chord straight to the circle along a line perpendicular to that chord. In practice, you draw the chord, find its midpoint, and then draw the line through that midpoint perpendicular to the chord until it hits the circle on the nearer arc. That perpendicular line passes through the circle’s center, and the segment from the chord’s midpoint to the circle along that line is the middle ordinate. This description matches the option about a line drawn at right angles from the chord’s midpoint to the circle. It’s a different idea from a radius (a line from the center to the circle), from the intersection of tangents, or from a line simply around the circumference.

The middle ordinate is the line segment that goes from the midpoint of a chord straight to the circle along a line perpendicular to that chord. In practice, you draw the chord, find its midpoint, and then draw the line through that midpoint perpendicular to the chord until it hits the circle on the nearer arc. That perpendicular line passes through the circle’s center, and the segment from the chord’s midpoint to the circle along that line is the middle ordinate.

This description matches the option about a line drawn at right angles from the chord’s midpoint to the circle. It’s a different idea from a radius (a line from the center to the circle), from the intersection of tangents, or from a line simply around the circumference.