Circle of Curvature
Circle of Curvature
The circle of curvature is a visual expression of the curvature of a curve at a given point. The circle of curvature, or osculating circle, of a curve at a point is the circle tangent to the curve with the same curvature. This Demonstration shows the circles of curvature along several curves.
For a nice animation, run the two sliders simultaneously in the back and forth mode.