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    Lecture Notes, M261-004, Torsion and The Unit Binormal Vector

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    Rifqi Andi
    This document provides a summary of lecture notes on torsion and the unit binormal vector. It defines the unit binormal vector B as the cross product of the unit tangent vector T and unit normal vector N. Together, T, N and B form an orthogonal triad of unit vectors called the Frenet frame. The document introduces torsion as a measure of how B changes with respect to arc length, and provides an alternate formula for curvature. It also includes examples calculating T, N, B, curvature and torsion for given curves, and finding equations for associated planes.

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    Lecture Notes, M261-004, Torsion and The Unit Binormal Vector

    Uploaded by

    Rifqi Andi
    31 views3 pages
    This document provides a summary of lecture notes on torsion and the unit binormal vector. It defines the unit binormal vector B as the cross product of the unit tangent vector T and unit normal vector N. Together, T, N and B form an orthogonal triad of unit vectors called the Frenet frame. The document introduces torsion as a measure of how B changes with respect to arc length, and provides an alternate formula for curvature. It also includes examples calculating T, N, B, curvature and torsion for given curves, and finding equations for associated planes.

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    Torsion

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    This document provides a summary of lecture notes on torsion and the unit binormal vector. It defines the unit binormal vector B as the cross product of the unit tangent vector T and unit normal vector N. Together, T, N and B form an orthogonal triad of unit vectors called the Frenet frame. The document introduces torsion as a measure of how B changes with respect to arc length, and provides an alternate formula for curvature. It also includes examples calculating T, N, B, curvature and torsion for given curves, and finding equations for associated planes.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    31 views3 pages

    Lecture Notes, M261-004, Torsion and The Unit Binormal Vector

    Uploaded by

    Rifqi Andi
    This document provides a summary of lecture notes on torsion and the unit binormal vector. It defines the unit binormal vector B as the cross product of the unit tangent vector T and unit normal vector N. Together, T, N and B form an orthogonal triad of unit vectors called the Frenet frame. The document introduces torsion as a measure of how B changes with respect to arc length, and provides an alternate formula for curvature. It also includes examples calculating T, N, B, curvature and torsion for given curves, and finding equations for associated planes.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    Lecture Notes, M261-004, Torsion and the Unit Binormal Vector

    Sept 12, 2008


    This is our last section from Chapter 13. We look at the ideas of torsion and the unit binormal vector.

    The Unit Binormal Vector

    We learned last time about the unit tangent vector and the unit normal vector. They are perpendicular to each other. The unit binormal vector B is given by B=TN Together, T, vectN and B give three mutually orthogonal unit vectors that can be drawn from r(t) as a reference point. It is often more convenient to express forces on the object whose motion is described by r(t) in terms of T, N and B rather than in terms of i, j and k. We call the vectors T, N and B the TNB frame or the Frenet frame. The vectors T, N and B also dene three planes, which we often refer to. The plane dened by T and N is called the osculating plane. The plane dened by N and B is called the normal plane. The plane dened by T and B is called the rectifying plane. We learned last time that the acceleration vector always lies entirely within the osculating plane it is a linear combination of T and N. In fact, a = aT T + aN N where aT = d2 s d = v , aN = v dt2 dt

    Torsion
    dB ds .

    We consider the vector at it more closely:

    Since B is always a unit vector, it is orthogonal to dB dT dN dN = N+T =T ds ds ds ds

    dB ds .

    We can look

    This shows that dB is perpendicular to T, along with being perpendicular to B. This means that ds it must be a scalar multiple of N, dB = N ds

    for some value . We call this number the torsion. Another way to calculate it is by x x ... x y y ... y z z ... z
    2

    va

    Alternate Formula for curvature


    va v
    3

    The book presents an alternate formula for curvature in this section: =

    It is derived using the denition of the unit binormal vector.

    Examples
    r(t) = (6 sin(2t))i + (6 cos(2t))j + 5tk

    Example 1. Find T, N, B, and for

    Then nd equations for the osculating, normal and rectifying planes. First, lets get velocity and acceleration by taking the rst two derivatives: v(t) = (12 cos(2t))i (12 sin(2t))j + 5k and a(t) = (24 sin(2t))i (24 cos(2t))j The magnitude of the tangent vector is given by v = So this means we have 144 cos2 (2t) + 144 sin2 (2t) + 25 = 169 = 13

    12 5 12 cos(2t)i sin(2t)j + k 13 13 13 Now, we take the derivative of T(t) to get T(t) = dT 24 24 = sin(2t)i sin(2t)j dt 13 13

    This has magnitude

    24 13 ,

    so we divide by this to get the unit normal vector N: N(t) = ( sin(2t))i (cos(2t))j

    The unit binormal vector is the cross product of the unit tangent and normal vectors: B(t) = T(t) N(t) =
    12 13

    i cos(2t) sin(2t) 2

    j 12 sin(2t) 13 cos(2t)

    k
    5 13

    =i

    12 13 sin(2t) cos(2t)

    5 13

    12 13

    cos(2t) sin(2t)

    5 13

    +k

    12 13

    cos(2t) sin(2t) va v
    3

    12 5 5 12 13 sin(2t) = cos(2t)i sin(2t)j k cos(2t) 13 13 13

    We can nd the curvature by = The Torsion is then given by x x ... x y y ... y z z ... z
    2

    24 169

    va

    12 cos(2t) 24 sin(2t) 48 cos(2t)

    12 sin(2t) 24 cos(2t) 48 sin(2t) 3122

    5 0 0

    5760 3122

    The planes are easy to nd because we already have vectors normal to them and a point that they all pass through. Osculating Plane: B(t0 ) (r(t0 ) x, y, z ) = 0 Normal Plane: T(t0 ) (r(t0 ) x, y, z ) = 0 Rectifying Plane: N(t0 ) (r(t0 ) x, y, z ) = 0 Example 2. Write a in the form aT T + aN N without nding T and N for r(t) = (1 + 3t2 )i + (t 2)j 3t3 k Taking the second derivative, we get a(t) = 6i 18tk And The rst derivative is given by v(t) = 6ti + j 9t2 k

    with magnitude v = Then we have

    1 + 36t2 + 81t4 .

    36t + 162t3 aT = 1 + 36t2 + 81t4 aN = a


    2

    We could get aN by a2 T We then use these coecients to write a = aT T + aN N

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