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Semicubical Parabola
In mathematics, a cuspidal cubic or semicubical parabola is an algebraic plane curve that has an implicit equation of the form : y^2 - a^2 x^3 = 0 (with ) in some Cartesian coordinate system. Solving for leads to the ''explicit form'' : y = \pm a x^, which imply that every real point satisfies . The exponent explains the term ''semicubical parabola''. (A parabola can be described by the equation .) Solving the implicit equation for yields a second ''explicit form'' :x = \left(\frac\right)^. The parametric equation : \quad x = t^2, \quad y = a t^3 can also be deduced from the implicit equation by putting t = \frac. . The semicubical parabolas have a cuspidal singularity; hence the name of ''cuspidal cubic''. The arc length of the curve was calculated by the English mathematician William Neile and published in 1657 (see section History). Properties of semicubical parabolas Similarity Any semicubical parabola (t^2,at^3) is similar to the ''semicubical unit parabola'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evolute
In the differential geometry of curves, the evolute of a curve is the locus (mathematics), locus of all its Center of curvature, centers of curvature. That is to say that when the center of curvature of each point on a curve is drawn, the resultant shape will be the evolute of that curve. The evolute of a circle is therefore a single point at its center. Equivalently, an evolute is the envelope (mathematics), envelope of the perpendicular, normals to a curve. The evolute of a curve, a surface, or more generally a submanifold, is the caustic (mathematics), caustic of the normal map. Let be a smooth, regular submanifold in . For each point in and each vector , based at and normal to , we associate the point . This defines a Lagrangian map, called the normal map. The caustic of the normal map is the evolute of . Evolutes are closely connected to involutes: A curve is the evolute of any of its involutes. History Apollonius of Perga, Apollonius ( 200 BC) discussed evolut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Line (geometry)
In geometry, a straight line, usually abbreviated line, is an infinitely long object with no width, depth, or curvature, an idealization of such physical objects as a straightedge, a taut string, or a ray (optics), ray of light. Lines are space (mathematics), spaces of dimension one, which may be Embedding, embedded in spaces of dimension two, three, or higher. The word ''line'' may also refer, in everyday life, to a line segment, which is a part of a line delimited by two Point (geometry), points (its ''endpoints''). Euclid's Elements, Euclid's ''Elements'' defines a straight line as a "breadthless length" that "lies evenly with respect to the points on itself", and introduced several postulates as basic unprovable properties on which the rest of geometry was established. ''Euclidean line'' and ''Euclidean geometry'' are terms introduced to avoid confusion with generalizations introduced since the end of the 19th century, such as Non-Euclidean geometry, non-Euclidean, Project ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algebraic Curve
In mathematics, an affine algebraic plane curve is the zero set of a polynomial in two variables. A projective algebraic plane curve is the zero set in a projective plane of a homogeneous polynomial in three variables. An affine algebraic plane curve can be completed in a projective algebraic plane curve by homogenization of a polynomial, homogenizing its defining polynomial. Conversely, a projective algebraic plane curve of homogeneous equation can be restricted to the affine algebraic plane curve of equation . These two operations are each inverse function, inverse to the other; therefore, the phrase algebraic plane curve is often used without specifying explicitly whether it is the affine or the projective case that is considered. If the defining polynomial of a plane algebraic curve is irreducible polynomial, irreducible, then one has an ''irreducible plane algebraic curve''. Otherwise, the algebraic curve is the union of one or several irreducible curves, called its ''Irreduc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cycloid
In geometry, a cycloid is the curve traced by a point on a circle as it Rolling, rolls along a Line (geometry), straight line without slipping. A cycloid is a specific form of trochoid and is an example of a roulette (curve), roulette, a curve generated by a curve rolling on another curve. The cycloid, with the Cusp (singularity), cusps pointing upward, is the curve of fastest descent under uniform gravity (the brachistochrone curve). It is also the form of a curve for which the Frequency, period of an object in simple harmonic motion (rolling up and down repetitively) along the curve does not depend on the object's starting position (the tautochrone curve). In physics, when a charged particle at rest is put under a uniform Electric field, electric and magnetic field perpendicular to one another, the particle’s trajectory draws out a cycloid. History The cycloid has been called "The Helen of Geometers" as, like Helen of Troy, it caused frequent quarrels among 17th-centur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Logarithmic Spiral
A logarithmic spiral, equiangular spiral, or growth spiral is a self-similarity, self-similar spiral curve that often appears in nature. The first to describe a logarithmic spiral was Albrecht Dürer (1525) who called it an "eternal line" ("ewige Linie"). More than a century later, the curve was discussed by René Descartes, Descartes (1638), and later extensively investigated by Jacob Bernoulli, who called it ''Spira mirabilis'', "the marvelous spiral". The logarithmic spiral is distinct from the Archimedean spiral in that the distances between the turnings of a logarithmic spiral increase in a geometric progression, whereas for an Archimedean spiral these distances are constant. Definition In polar coordinates (r, \varphi) the logarithmic spiral can be written as r = ae^,\quad \varphi \in \R, or \varphi = \frac \ln \frac, with e (mathematical constant), e being the base of natural logarithms, and a > 0, k\ne 0 being real constants. In Cartesian coordinates The logarithmi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arc Length
Arc length is the distance between two points along a section of a curve. Development of a formulation of arc length suitable for applications to mathematics and the sciences is a problem in vector calculus and in differential geometry. In the most basic formulation of arc length for a vector valued curve (thought of as the trajectory of a particle), the arc length is obtained by integrating speed, the magnitude of the velocity vector over the curve with respect to time. Thus the length of a continuously differentiable curve (x(t),y(t)), for a\le t\le b, in the Euclidean plane is given as the integral L = \int_a^b \sqrt\,dt, (because \sqrt is the magnitude of the velocity vector (x'(t),y'(t)), i.e., the particle's speed). The defining integral of arc length does not always have a closed-form expression, and numerical integration may be used instead to obtain numerical values of arc length. Determining the length of an irregular arc segment by approximating the arc segment as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brachistochrone Curve
In physics and mathematics, a brachistochrone curve (), or curve of fastest descent, is the one lying on the plane between a point ''A'' and a lower point ''B'', where ''B'' is not directly below ''A'', on which a bead slides frictionlessly under the influence of a uniform gravitational field to a given end point in the shortest time. The problem was posed by Johann Bernoulli in 1696 and solved by Isaac Newton in 1697. The brachistochrone curve is the same shape as the tautochrone curve; both are cycloids. However, the portion of the cycloid used for each of the two varies. More specifically, the brachistochrone can use up to a complete rotation of the cycloid (at the limit when A and B are at the same level), but always starts at a cusp. In contrast, the tautochrone problem can use only up to the first half rotation, and always ends at the horizontal.Stewart, James. "Section 10.1 - Curves Defined by Parametric Equations." ''Calculus: Early Transcendentals''. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tautochrone Curve
A tautochrone curve or isochrone curve () is the curve for which the time taken by an object sliding without friction in uniform gravity to its lowest point is independent of its starting point on the curve. The curve is a cycloid, and the time is equal to Pi, π times the square root of the radius of the circle which generates the cycloid, over the Gravitational acceleration, acceleration of gravity. The tautochrone curve is related to the brachistochrone curve, which is also a cycloid. The tautochrone problem The tautochrone problem, the attempt to identify this curve, was solved by Christiaan Huygens in 1659. He proved geometrically in his ''Horologium Oscillatorium'', originally published in 1673, that the curve is a cycloid. The cycloid is given by a point on a circle of radius r tracing a curve as the circle rolls along the x axis, as: \begin x &= r(\theta - \sin \theta) \\ y &= r(1 - \cos \theta), \end Huygens also proved that the time of descent is equal to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homogeneous Coordinates
In mathematics, homogeneous coordinates or projective coordinates, introduced by August Ferdinand Möbius in his 1827 work , are a system of coordinates used in projective geometry, just as Cartesian coordinates are used in Euclidean geometry. They have the advantage that the coordinates of points, including points at infinity, can be represented using finite coordinates. Formulas involving homogeneous coordinates are often simpler and more symmetric than their Cartesian counterparts. Homogeneous coordinates have a range of applications, including computer graphics and 3D computer vision, where they allow affine transformations and, in general, projective transformations to be easily represented by a matrix. They are also used in fundamental elliptic curve cryptography algorithms. If homogeneous coordinates of a point are multiplied by a non-zero scalar then the resulting coordinates represent the same point. Since homogeneous coordinates are also given to points at infini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perspective (geometry)
Two figures in a plane are perspective from a point ''O'', called the center of perspectivity, if the lines joining corresponding points of the figures all meet at ''O''. Dually, the figures are said to be perspective from a line if the points of intersection of corresponding lines all lie on one line. The proper setting for this concept is in projective geometry where there will be no special cases due to parallel lines since all lines meet. Although stated here for figures in a plane, the concept is easily extended to higher dimensions. Terminology The line which goes through the points where the figure's corresponding sides intersect is known as the axis of perspectivity, perspective axis, homology axis, or archaically, perspectrix. The figures are said to be perspective from this axis. The point at which the lines joining the corresponding vertices of the perspective figures intersect is called the center of perspectivity, perspective center, homology center, pole, or arch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Involution (mathematics)
In mathematics, an involution, involutory function, or self-inverse function is a function that is its own inverse, : for all in the domain of . Equivalently, applying twice produces the original value. General properties Any involution is a bijection. The identity map is a trivial example of an involution. Examples of nontrivial involutions include negation (), reciprocation (), and complex conjugation () in arithmetic; reflection, half-turn rotation, and circle inversion in geometry; complementation in set theory; and reciprocal ciphers such as the ROT13 transformation and the Beaufort polyalphabetic cipher. The composition of two involutions and is an involution if and only if they commute: . Involutions on finite sets The number of involutions, including the identity involution, on a set with elements is given by a recurrence relation found by Heinrich August Rothe in 1800: : a_0 = a_1 = 1 and a_n = a_ + (n - 1)a_ for n > 1. The first few terms of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
