LEMNISCATE : Evolute

We take the locus of the lemniscate, and at each point of the locus construct a normal to the curve. The evolute occurs as the envelope of these normals.

In the applet linked below, as Q traverses the red circle, point P describes the lemniscate, and the normal at P contributes to the envelope of the evolute. Press the ‘Animate’ button to generate the evolute. You can delete this construction by clicking on the red cross at lower right. A fuller representation of the locus can be found by manually dragging the point Q around the red circle. It is difficult to see exactly what is happening here. Check the behaviour when points P and Q are close together.



The evolute here is a rather strange curve – certainly not one we have seen before. It appears as a hyperbola with a couple of small cusps where the curve meets the x-axis. The structure of the evolute is better seen when it is drawn as a locus. We can see this in the link that follows.

Bibliography


http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Curves/Lemniscate.html