Question

A line segment has how many end points?
A. One
B. Two
C. Three
D. Four

Answer 1

Hint: We will have a look at the basic definition of a line segment and also see how it is formed, and using all these data we will find the number of end points of a line segment.

Complete step by step answer:

It is given in the question that we have to find the number of end points of a line segment. So to find this, we will first see the definition of a line segment and also see how it is formed.
So, a line segment is a straight line that connects two points on a plane and also a line segment is the shortest path between any two points.

Both the figures 1 and 2 connect two point, point A and point B, but figure 1 is a line segment and figure 2 is not a line segment. This is because a line segment gives the shortest distance. So, in figure 1 we can see that the line segment is the shortest distance between the points A and B. But in figure 2 AB is not a line segment as it is not the shortest distance between the points A and B. The shortest distance possible between the points A and B in figure 2 is shown in dotted lines.
If we look at the formation of a line segment then it is derived from a dot or we can call it a point.

Basically, a point has no dimension, no length and no breadth. Point is used to specify any specific point.
Now, let us consider points from rays.

Light coming from the sun to us is the best example of rays. A ray has one endpoint. These rays form lines which have no end points.

And finally, when these lines are defined at some specific endpoints, they are called line segments.

And a line segment has two endpoints. Thus, we get the number of end points of a line segment as 2. Hence option (B) is the correct answer.

Note: Students may often get confused between rays, line and line segments. The students can refer to the below table to see how many endpoints a ray, a line and a line segment has.

Geometry	Number of endpoints
Ray	1
Line	0
Line segment	2.