Circle of Curvature

circle of curvature

[′sər·kəl əv ′kər·və·chər]

(mathematics)

The circle tangent to a curve on the concave side and having the same curvature at the point of tangency as does the curve.

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 It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Circle of Curvature

 

(mathematics), a circle having contact of at least the second order with a curve at a given point. The center of the circle is called the center of curvature of the curve at the point of contact, and its radius, the radius of curvature. The circle of curvature lies in the osculating plane of the given curve.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.