Radius of Curvature

Center of curvature

= radius of curvature

dx

y = f(x)

dy

Derivation
From the figure,

ds ds dx
=

d dx d

(1)

Find ds/dx using Pythagoras theorem

ds = (dy ) 2 + (dx) 2
2

ds
dy
= +1
dx
dx

(2)

Find dx/d using the relation

dy
= tan
dx
d2y
d
= sec 2
2
dx
dx

dy
1+
2
dx 1 + tan
dx
=
= 2
2
d y
d y
d
2
dx 2
dx

(3)

Substitute (2) and (3) into (1) to obtain the formula for the
radius of curvature of function y = f(x) as follow

dy 2
1 +
dx

=
d2y
dx 2