Quote:
Originally Posted by Esoteric
Parabola.
|
Cycloid!!! It's so cool it makes me dizzy.
A cycloid generated by a rolling circle.
A cycloid is the curve defined by the path of a point on the edge of circular wheel as the wheel rolls along a straight line. It is an example of a roulette, a curve generated by a curve rolling on another curve.
The cycloid is the solution to the brachistochrone problem (i.e. it is the curve of fastest descent under gravity) and the related tautochrone problem (i.e. the period of a ball rolling back and forth inside it does not depend on the ball's starting position).