AMATH 231 Solution ASSIGNMENT # 3: Arclength and Curvature Fall 2014

1. Solution: [2 marks]
We compute the derivative and its length,
~g 0 (t) = et (cos t sin t, sin t + cos t, 1),

and

k~g 0 (t)k =

t
3e .

Then we evaluate the integral,

Z t
 3
s=
3et dt = 3 et 0 = 3(e3 1).
0

2. Solution: [3 marks]
We compute the derivative,
~g () = (f 0 () cos f () sin , f 0 () sin + f () cos ),
now its length,
q
kg ()k = (f 0 () cos f () sin )2 + (f 0 () sin + f () cos )2 ,
q
= (f 0 ())2 + f 2 ().
0

Therefore, the arc length is,

Z

s
f 2 ()

s=
1


+

d
f ()
d

2
d.

3. Solution: [4 marks + 2 bonus]

In a span of 25 minutes the LP turns 33 25 = 825 times. If the spacing between
groove is constant then it is reasonable to assume that the radial distance depends
linearly on the angle, i.e.
r = a,

for

1 2 ,

for constants a, 1 , 2 that must be determined.

Since the record turns 825 times in total and each turn is 2 then the difference in
phase must be
2 1 = 825 2.
Furthermore, we must have
6 = a1 ,

and

14.5 = a2 .

We can substitute the second two equations into the first equation multiplied by a,
a=

14.5 6
0.00164.
825 2

This then implies that 1 = 3658.5 and 2 = 8841.5. Therefore, our formula becomes,
~g () = 0.00164(cos , sin ).
To compute the arc length we must first compute the derivative and its length,
~g 0 () = 0.00164(cos sin , sin + cos ),
and

k~g 0 ()k = 0.00164 1 + 2 .

The arc length is then set up,

Z

8841.5

s = 0.00164

1 + 2 d.

3658.5

Bonus: To evaluate this we need to use a substitution = sinh and d = cosh d,

Z 9.7804 q
1 + sinh2 cosh d,
s = 0.00164
Z8.8980
9.7804
= 0.00164
cosh2 d,
Z8.8980
9.7804
1
= 0.00164
[1 + cosh 2] d,
8.8980 2

9.7804
1
= 0.00082 + sinh 2
53035.
2
8.8980

4. Solution: [2 + 6 + 3 marks]

a) Because the unit tangent vector has a unit length, it is orthogonal to its derivative
and therefore the unit normal vector. Also, the cross product of two vectors is
necessarily orthogonal to those vectors.
b) As computed in class, the unit tangent vector is
(a sin t, a cos t, b)
1
~g 0 (t)

=
=
(a sin t, a cos t, b).
T~ (t) = 0
2
2
2
k~g (t)k
a +b
a + b2
The unit normal vector is similarly computed,
~0
~ (t) = T (t) = ( cos t, sin t, 0)
N
~0
T (t)
The unit bi-normal is,
~ = 1
(b sin t, b cos t, a).
B
a2 + b 2
The curvature is
(s) =

~0
T (t)
k~g 0 (t)k

k(a cos t, a sin t, 0)k

a
= 2
.
2
2
a +b
a + b2

To compute the torsion we first need the following vector,

~g 0 (t) ~g 00 (t) = (a sin t, a cos t, b) (a cos t, a sin t, 0),
= (ab sin t, ab cos t, a2 ),
and k~g 0 (t) ~g 00 (t)k2 = a2 (a2 + b2 ). Therefore, the formula yields,
(~g 0 (t) ~g 00 (t)) ~g 000 (t)
,
k~g 0 (t) ~g 00 (t)k2
(ab sin t, ab cos t, a2 ) (a sin t, a cos t, 0)
=
,
a2 (a2 + b2 )
a2 b
b
= 2 2
= 2
.
2
a (a + b )
a + b2

c) The identities can be checked one at a time:

dT~
ds h ~ i
=
N ,
dt
dt
a
a

( cos t, sin t, 0) =
( cos t, sin t, 0),
2
2
2
a +b
a + b2

Figure 1: Field lines for F(x, y) = (x, 1).

i
~
dN
ds h ~
~ ,
=
T + B
dt

dt
b
a
(a sin t, a cos t, b) + 2
(b sin t, b cos t, a) ,
(sin t, cos t, 0) = 2
a + b2
a + b2
(sin t, cos t, 0) = ( sin t, cos t, 0).
i
~
ds h
dB
~ ,
=
N
dt
dt
b
b

(cos t, sin t, 0) =
(cos t, sin t, 0).
a2 + b 2
a2 + b2
5. Solution:
The field lines of F(x, y) = (x, 1) are determined as follows: setting g0 (t) = F(g(t))
implies
g0 (t) = (x0 (t), y 0 (t))
= F(x(t), y(t))
= (x(t), 1).
It follows that
x0 (t) = x(t) and y 0 (t) = 1.

Figure 2: Vector field and field lines (in red) for F(x, y) = (x, 1).

These are two uncoupled ODEs and hence are readily solved as x(t) = c1 et and y = t+c2
where c1 , c2 are constants. It follows that t = ln |x/c1 | for x 6= 0. This means the field
lines of F(x, y) = (x, 1) are governed by
 
x
y = ln   + c2
c1
which are depicted by the red coloured curves in Figure 1 for various values of c1 and
c2 . When x = 0, we have
x0 (t) = 0 and y 0 (t) = 1
which means the yaxis is a field line as well (see Figure 1). Directions of the field
lines are determined from F(x, y) = (x, 1).
Aside: as a point of interest, the vector field becomes stronger and stronger as we move
away from the yaxis as indicated by the larger magnitude of the vectors in the field
portrait (see Figure 2). This is because the magnitude of F,
p
||F|| = x2 + (1)2 ,
increases when |x| increases.