Question

what makes a line parallel

Answers

GPT-4o mini
Two lines are considered parallel if they are in the same plane and do not intersect, no matter how far they are extended. In other words, they are always the same distance apart.

In terms of geometric properties, two lines are parallel if:

1. **Slopes**: In a Cartesian coordinate system, two lines are parallel if they have the same slope. For lines expressed in the slope-intercept form \(y = mx + b\), if the coefficients \(m_1\) and \(m_2\) (the slopes) are equal (\(m_1 = m_2\)), the lines are parallel.

2. **Equations**: For two lines given by the equations \(Ax + By + C_1 = 0\) and \(Ax + By + C_2 = 0\), they are parallel if they share the same coefficients \(A\) and \(B\) but have different constants \(C_1\) and \(C_2\).

3. **Geometry**: In geometric constructions, if two lines are both perpendicular to a third line, they are also parallel to each other.

In summary, parallel lines maintain a constant distance from one another and do not meet, regardless of how they're extended in either direction.

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