Hypotrochoid from Collinear Orbiters

angular velocity

4

phase

coordinate

radius of circle for B

offset

time

This Demonstration shows the trajectory of a red point

C

on the segment

AB

that connects two black points

A

and

B

that travel around two circles. The location of

C

is fixed in terms of the ratio

|AC|/|AB|

. The phase or offset does not change the shape of the green orbit. The angular velocity of

C

determines the number of lobes of the green curve it lies on.