MATH 2401: WEEK 3

Topics for this week are:

• Curvature, acceleration, the binormal vector
• Functions of several variables and quadric surfaces

Text coverage:     Sections 13.7, 14.1 - 14.2 of Salas, Hille, and Etgen

Reference:   These topics are also discussed in Chapter 4, Derivatives, of the Cain-Herod textbook.

Online resources:

• Maple Worksheets
  • Parametric Curves: We use Maple to explain and visualize the unit tangent, normal, curvature, binormal, torsion, and other quantities associated with a curve.
  • A Water Whirl: The surface of a rotating fluid forms a paraboloid. An application of this is the construction of liquid mirror telescopes.

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Last Modified: . School of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology.