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    The Tangent Vector To A Curve

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    Oey Mirabueno
    This document defines and discusses the tangent vector to a space curve. The tangent vector at a point P0 on a curve C parametrized by r(t) is defined as the limit of the vector from P0 to nearby points P as this distance approaches 0. Geometrically, the tangent vector r'(t0) at P0 is the direction of the tangent line to the curve C at P0. The tangent line is the line through P0 in the direction of r'(t0).

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    The Tangent Vector To A Curve

    Uploaded by

    Oey Mirabueno
    29 views1 page
    This document defines and discusses the tangent vector to a space curve. The tangent vector at a point P0 on a curve C parametrized by r(t) is defined as the limit of the vector from P0 to nearby points P as this distance approaches 0. Geometrically, the tangent vector r'(t0) at P0 is the direction of the tangent line to the curve C at P0. The tangent line is the line through P0 in the direction of r'(t0).

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    tangent vector to a curve

    Original Title

    curvtgt

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    This document defines and discusses the tangent vector to a space curve. The tangent vector at a point P0 on a curve C parametrized by r(t) is defined as the limit of the vector from P0 to nearby points P as this distance approaches 0. Geometrically, the tangent vector r'(t0) at P0 is the direction of the tangent line to the curve C at P0. The tangent line is the line through P0 in the direction of r'(t0).

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    29 views1 page

    The Tangent Vector To A Curve

    Uploaded by

    Oey Mirabueno
    This document defines and discusses the tangent vector to a space curve. The tangent vector at a point P0 on a curve C parametrized by r(t) is defined as the limit of the vector from P0 to nearby points P as this distance approaches 0. Geometrically, the tangent vector r'(t0) at P0 is the direction of the tangent line to the curve C at P0. The tangent line is the line through P0 in the direction of r'(t0).

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 1

    The Tangent Vector to a Curve

    Let C be a space curve parametrized by the differentiable vector-valued function


    r(t). At the point P0 (= r(t0 )) of C, we have the derivative (or velocity) vector
    −−→
    0 r(t0 +h) − r(t0 ) P0 P
    v(t0 ) = r (t0 ) = lim = lim , (1)
    h→0 h h→0 h

    where we write P for the point r(t0 +h) on C. We give a direct geometric interpreta-
    tion of this vector, assuming it is not zero. It follows from equation (1) that for small
    −−→
    h 6= 0, we have P 6= P0 , so that P0 P is a nonzero vector.
    −−→
    Theorem 2 Assume that r0 (t0 ) 6= 0. Let θ(h) be the angle between the vectors P0 P
    and r0 (t0 ) (which is defined for sufficiently small h 6= 0). Then:
    (a) limh→0+ θ(h) = 0;
    −−→
    (b) limh→0− θ(h) = π; or equivalently, the angle between P0 P and −r0 (t0 ) tends to
    0 as h → 0−.
    Proof The standard angle formula gives
    −−→ 0
    P0 P • r (t0 ) [r(t0 +h) − r(t0 )] • r0 (t0 )
    cos θ(h) = −−→ =
    P0 P kr0 (t0 )k kr(t0 +h) − r(t0 )kkr0 (t0 )k

    We cannot take the limit directly, because we get 0/0. However, if we first divide
    numerator and denominator by h and assume h > 0, we can apply equation (1)
    directly (using the continuity of norms and dot products) to get

    r(t0 +h) − r(t0 ) 0


    • r (t0 )
    h r0 (t0 ) • r0 (t0 )
    cos θ(h) = −−→ =1 (3)
    r(t0 +h) − r(t0 ) 0
    kr0 (t0 )kkr0 (t0 )k
    kr (t0 )k
    h

    as h → 0+. Finally, we apply the continuous function cos−1 to deduce that


    θ(h) = cos−1 (cos θ(h)) −−→ cos−1 (1) = 0 as h → 0+,
    as required.
    If h < 0, equation (3) is off by a sign, and we get θ → cos−1 (−1) = π instead.
    Geometrically, the vector r0 (t0 ) is tangent to the curve C at P0 . This leads to the
    following definition.
    Definition 4 The tangent line to C at P0 is the line through P0 in the direction of
    the vector r0 (t0 ).
    Thus its parametric equation (with parameter u) is (see (13.3.2))
    R(u) = r(t0 ) + ur0 (t0 ). (5)

    110.202 Calculus III JMB File: curvtgt, Revision C; 11 Feb 2000; Page 1

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