Meusnier theorem
From Encyclopedia of Mathematics
If is a curve lying on a surface and
is a point on
, then the curvature
of
at
, the curvature
of the normal section of the surface by the osculating plane passing through the unit tangent to
at
and the unit normal vector, and the angle
between the referred osculating plane of
at
and any other osculating plane that does not go through the unit normal vector, satisfy the relation
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In particular, the curvature of every inclined section of the surface can be expressed in terms of the curvature of the normal section with the same tangent.
This theorem was proved by J. Meusnier in 1779 (and was published in [1]).
References
[1] | J. Meusnier, Mém. prés. par div. Etrangers. Acad. Sci. Paris , 10 (1785) pp. 477–510 |
Comments
References
[a1] | M.P. Do Carmo, "Differential geometry of curves and surfaces" , Prentice-Hall (1976) pp. 142 |
[a2] | W. Blaschke, K. Leichtweiss, "Elementare Differentialgeometrie" , Springer (1973) |
How to Cite This Entry:
Meusnier theorem. Encyclopedia of Mathematics. URL: http://encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Meusnier_theorem&oldid=15630
Meusnier theorem. Encyclopedia of Mathematics. URL: http://encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Meusnier_theorem&oldid=15630
This article was adapted from an original article by D.D. Sokolov (originator), which appeared in Encyclopedia of Mathematics - ISBN 1402006098. See original article