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Unit Tangent and Normal Vectors Explained

The document defines tangent and normal vectors for functions. It states that the tangent vector at a point t0 on a differentiable function r(t) is given by r'(t0), and the unit tangent vector T(t) is r'(t) divided by the magnitude of r'(t). The principal unit normal vector N(t) is defined as the derivative of the unit tangent vector T'(t) divided by its magnitude. Examples are then given to illustrate these definitions.

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Jason Yap Han Yuen
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110 views9 pages

Unit Tangent and Normal Vectors Explained

The document defines tangent and normal vectors for functions. It states that the tangent vector at a point t0 on a differentiable function r(t) is given by r'(t0), and the unit tangent vector T(t) is r'(t) divided by the magnitude of r'(t). The principal unit normal vector N(t) is defined as the derivative of the unit tangent vector T'(t) divided by its magnitude. Examples are then given to illustrate these definitions.

Uploaded by

Jason Yap Han Yuen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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3 Unit Tangent and Normal Vectors

Definition 4 Tangent vector


Suppose r(t) is differentiable at t0 and that r' (t)  0 .
Then r' (t 0 ) is defined to be a tangent vector to the
graph of r(t) at the point where t = t0.

Definition 5 Unit tangent vector


If r(t) is a vector function that defines a smooth
graph, then at each point a unit tangent is
𝐫′(𝐭)
̂
𝐓(𝑡) =
‖𝐫′(𝐭)‖

and the principal unit normal vector is


̂ (𝑡)
𝐓′
̂ (𝑡) =
𝐍
̂ ′(𝑡)‖
‖𝐓

17
𝐫′(𝐭)
N

𝐫 ′ ′(𝐭)

18
Example 9
Example 10
Example 11

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