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Radius of curvature and center of curvature. In differential geometry, the radius of curvature, R, is the reciprocal of the curvature. For a curve, it equals the radius of the circular arc which best approximates the curve at that point. For surfaces, the radius of curvature is the radius of a circle that best fits a normal section or ...
Note that changing F into –F would not change the curve defined by F(x, y) = 0, but it would change the sign of the numerator if the absolute value were omitted in the preceding formula. A point of the curve where F x = F y = 0 is a singular point, which means that the curve is not differentiable at this point, and thus that the curvature is ...
This circle, which is the one among all tangent circles at the given point that approaches the curve most tightly, was named circulus osculans (Latin for "kissing circle") by Leibniz. The center and radius of the osculating circle at a given point are called center of curvature and radius of curvature of the curve at that
Curvature is usually measured in radius of curvature.A small circle can be easily laid out by just using radius of curvature, but degree of curvature is more convenient for calculating and laying out the curve if the radius is as large as a kilometer or mile, as is needed for large scale works like roads and railroads.
There are continuous curves on which every arc (other than a single-point arc) has infinite length. An example of such a curve is the Koch curve. Another example of a curve with infinite length is the graph of the function defined by f(x) = x sin(1/x) for any open set with 0 as one of its delimiters and f(0) = 0.
This curve will in general have different curvatures for different normal planes at p. The principal curvatures at p, denoted k 1 and k 2, are the maximum and minimum values of this curvature. Here the curvature of a curve is by definition the reciprocal of the radius of the osculating circle. The curvature is taken to be positive if the curve ...
A double-end Euler spiral. The curve continues to converge to the points marked, as t tends to positive or negative infinity. An Euler spiral is a curve whose curvature changes linearly with its curve length (the curvature of a circular curve is equal to the reciprocal of the radius). This curve is also referred to as a clothoid or Cornu spiral.
Using radians, the formula for the arc length s of a circular arc of radius r and subtending a central angle of measure 𝜃 is =, and the formula for the area A of a circular sector of radius r and with central angle of measure 𝜃 is A = 1 2 θ r 2 . {\displaystyle A={\frac {1}{2}}\theta r^{2}.}