pedal curve
[′ped·əl ‚kərv] (mathematics)
The pedal curve of a given curve C with respect to a fixed point P is the locus of the foot of the perpendicular from P to a variable tangent to C. Also known as first pedal curve; first positive pedal curve; positive pedal curve.
Any curve that can be derived from a given curve C by repeated application of the procedure specified in the first definition.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Pedal Curve
(or pedal). The locus P of the feet of the perpendiculars dropped from a point O to the tangents of a given curve A is called the pedal curve of A with respect to the point 0. An example of a pedal curve is given in Figure 1. The curve A is said to be the first negative pedal curve of P with respect to the point 0.
Figure 1
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.