Comparing Line Segments

To compare two line segments, I overlap them, ensuring their endpoints coincide.

• If the endpoints of the two segments coincide after overlapping, then the segments are congruent $$ AB \cong CD $$

  Example: Two segments are congruent when they have the same length.
  

• If the endpoints do NOT coincide, then the segments are not congruent. In this case, there are two possibilities:
  • Segment AB is longer than segment CD $$ AB > CD $$
  • Segment AB is shorter than segment CD $$ AB < CD $$

And so forth.