Question

tangents and secants to a cirlce

Answer 1

Tangent intersects a circle at just one point, whereas a secant intersects it at two distinct points.

Answer 2

A secant is a line that intersects thecircle in two different points and a tangent is a line that intersects thecircle in exactly one point, called the point of tangency.
A line which touches acircle or ellipse at just one point. Below, the blue line is a tangent to thecircle c. Note the radius to the point oftangency is always perpendicular to the tangent line.