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T is the unit vector tangent to the curve, pointing in the direction of motion. N is the normal unit vector, the derivative of T with respect to the arclength parameter of the curve, divided by its length. B is the binormal unit vector, the cross product of T and N. The Frenet–Serret formulas are:
Illustration of tangential and normal components of a vector to a surface. In mathematics, given a vector at a point on a curve, that vector can be decomposed uniquely as a sum of two vectors, one tangent to the curve, called the tangential component of the vector, and another one perpendicular to the curve, called the normal component of the vector.
Normal (geometry) A polygon and its two normal vectors. A normal to a surface at a point is the same as a normal to the tangent plane to the surface at the same point. In geometry, a normal is an object (e.g. a line, ray, or vector) that is perpendicular to a given object. For example, the normal line to a plane curve at a given point is the ...
In Euclidean plane geometry, a tangent line to a circle is a line that touches the circle at exactly one point, never entering the circle's interior. Tangent lines to circles form the subject of several theorems, and play an important role in many geometrical constructions and proofs. Since the tangent line to a circle at a point P is ...
In geometry, the tangential angle of a curve in the Cartesian plane, at a specific point, is the angle between the tangent line to the curve at the given point and the x -axis. [1] (. Some authors define the angle as the deviation from the direction of the curve at some fixed starting point. This is equivalent to the definition given here by ...
In mathematics, a tangent vector is a vector that is tangent to a curve or surface at a given point. Tangent vectors are described in the differential geometry of curves in the context of curves in Rn. More generally, tangent vectors are elements of a tangent space of a differentiable manifold. Tangent vectors can also be described in terms of ...
Snell's law. Refraction of light at the interface between two media of different refractive indices, with n 2 > n 1. Since the velocity is lower in the second medium (v 2 < v 1), the angle of refraction θ 2 is less than the angle of incidence θ 1; that is, the ray in the higher-index medium is closer to the normal.
Given a tangential vector field X and a tangent vector Y to S at p, the covariant derivative ∇ Y X is a certain tangent vector to S at p. Consequently, if X and Y are both tangential vector fields, then ∇ Y X can also be regarded as a tangential vector field; iteratively, if X , Y , and Z are tangential vector fields, the one may compute ...