8. Radius of Curvature
By M. Bourne
We can draw a circle through points on part of a curve. The radius of curvature is the radius of the approximating circle.
The formula for the radius of curvature at the point x for the curve y = f(x) is given by:
Example 1
Need Graph Paper?
Find the radius of curvature for the cubic
y = 2x3 − x + 3
at the point x = 1.
Example 2
[This example was supplied by a reader.]
We have a curve which is defined by the data points (1, 1), (2, 3) and (3,8). We do not know the function for this data. How can we find the radius of curvature?
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