全部书籍

专业

应用 关于 Coach 登录 开始阅读

书籍暂未推出简体中文版——当前显示英文版。

Mathematics · 术语表

什么是 Length of an arc?

又称: arc length

Definition 24.9 University Mathematics — Year 1 · 第 24 章 — Plane Curves

The length of a C1C^1 arc f ⁣:[a, b]→R2f \colon \intcc{a}{b} \to \R^2 is the integral of the speed:

L=∫ab∥f′(t)∥  ⁣dt=∫abx′(t)2+y′(t)2   ⁣dt.L = \int_a^b \norm{f'(t)}\,\dd t = \int_a^b \sqrt{x'(t)^2 + y'(t)^2}\;\dd t .

(Motivation: on a small interval, M(t+h)≈M(t)+hf′(t)M(t + h) \approx M(t) + h f'(t), so the arc is close to a polygon whose segment lengths sum to a Riemann sum of ∥f′∥\norm{f'}, Theorem 15.20.) For a polar curve r=r(θ)r = r(\theta), the velocity r′u⃗+rv⃗r'\vec u + r\vec v has orthogonal components, so

L=∫θ1θ2r′(θ)2+r(θ)2   ⁣dθ.L = \int_{\theta_1}^{\theta_2} \sqrt{r'(\theta)^2 + r(\theta)^2}\;\dd\theta .

The length does not depend on the (monotone, C1C^1) parametrization chosen: substituting t=φ(s)t = \varphi(s) in the integral (Theorem 15.15) multiplies f′f' by φ′\varphi' and  ⁣dt\dd t by φ′−1\varphi'^{-1}.

One arch of the cycloid (radius R = 1), the rolling circle at t = 2, and the two guide lines of the weekend problem: the chord MC to the contact point is normal to the curve, the chord MT to the top of the circle is tangent.
One arch of the cycloid (radius R=1R = 1), the rolling circle at t=2t = 2, and the two guide lines of the weekend problem: the chord MCMC to the contact point is normal to the curve, the chord MTMT to the top of the circle is tangent.

示例

Example 24.10 (Sanity check: the circle)

For f(t)=(Rcos⁡t,Rsin⁡t)f(t) = (R\cos t, R\sin t) on [0, 2π]\intcc{0}{2\pi}: ∥f′∥=R\norm{f'} = R, so L=2πRL = 2\pi R — the definition returns the circumference. Reparametrization test: the map g(t)=(Rcos⁡2t,Rsin⁡2t)g(t) = (R\cos 2t, R\sin 2t) on [0, π]\intcc{0}{\pi} draws the same circle at doubled speed ∥g′∥=2R\norm{g'} = 2R, and

∫0π2R  ⁣dt=2πR\int_0^{\pi} 2R\,\dd t = 2\pi R

again: half the time, twice the speed, same length — the invariance promised in the definition, watched once on numbers. (Running gg on all of [0, 2π]\intcc{0}{2\pi} would give 4πR4\pi R: a curve traversed twice is twice as long as a journey; length measures the parametrized path, and honest bookkeeping of the interval is part of the computation.) For the astroid (cos⁡3t,sin⁡3t)(\cos^3t, \sin^3t): ∥f′∥=3∣sin⁡tcos⁡t∣=32∣sin⁡2t∣\norm{f'} = 3\abs{\sin t\cos t} = \tfrac32\abs{\sin 2t}, and by symmetry L=4∫0π/232sin⁡2t  ⁣dt=6L = 4\int_0^{\pi/2} \tfrac32\sin 2t\,\dd t = 6: a curve drawn inside the unit circle, of length 6<2π6 < 2\pi. The weekend problem measures the most famous arch of all.

在原文中阅读 →