Archimedean spiral

The Archimedean spiral (also known as the arithmetic spiral) is a

spiral named after the 3rd-century BC Greek mathematician
Archimedes. It is the locus of points corresponding to the locations
over time of a point moving away from a fixed point with a constant
speed along a line that rotates with constant angular velocity.
Equivalently, in polar coordinates (r, θ) it can be described by the
equation

with real numbers a and b. Changing the parameter a turns the spiral,
while b controls the distance between successive turnings.

Archimedes described such a spiral in his bookOn Spirals.

Three 360° turnings of one arm of an Archimedean

spiral
Contents
Characteristics
Separation distance between turns
General Archimedean spiral
Applications
See also
References
External links

Characteristics
The Archimedean spiral has the property that any ray from the origin
intersects successive turnings of the spiral in points with a constant
separation distance (equal to 2πb if θ is measured in radians), hence
the name "arithmetic spiral".

In contrast to this, in a logarithmic spiral these distances, as well as Archimedean spiral represented on a polar graph
the distances of the intersection points measured from the origin,
form a geometric progression.

The Archimedean spiral has two arms, one for θ > 0 and one for θ < 0. The two arms are smoothly connected at the origin. Only one
arm is shown on the accompanying graph. T
aking the mirror image of this arm across they-axis will yield the other arm.

For large θ a point moves with well-approximated uniform acceleration along the Archimedean spiral while the spiral corresponds to
the locations over time of a point moving away from a fixed point with a constant speed along a line which rotates with constant
angular velocity[1] (see contribution from Mikhail Gaichenkov).

Separation distance between turns

Some sources describe the Archimedean spiral as a spiral with a "constant
separation distance" between successive turns.[2] This is somewhat misleading. The
constant distances in the Archimedean spiral are measured along rays from the
origin, which do not cross the curve at right angles, whereas a distance between
parallel curves is measured orthogonally to both curves. There is a curve slightly
different from the Archimedean spiral, the involute of a circle, whose turns have
constant separation distance in the latter sense ofparallel curves.

General Archimedean spiral

Sometimes the term Archimedean spiral is used for the more general group of spirals

Osculating circles of the

Archimedean spiral. The spiral itself
is not not drawn: we see it as the
The normal Archimedean spiral occurs when c = 1. Other spirals falling into this locus of points where the circles are
group include the hyperbolic spiral (c = −1), Fermat's spiral (c = 2), and the lituus especially close to each other.
(c = −2). Virtually all static spirals appearing in nature are logarithmic spirals, not
Archimedean ones. Many dynamic spirals (such as the Parker spiral of the solar
wind, or the pattern made by aCatherine's wheel) are Archimedean.

Applications
One method of squaring the circle, due to Archimedes, makes use of an Archimedean spiral. Archimedes also showed how the spiral
[3]
can be used to trisect an angle. Both approaches relax the traditional limitation on the use of straightedge and compass.

The Archimedean spiral has a variety of real-world applications. Scroll compressors, made from
two interleaved involutes of a circle of the same size that almost resemble Archimedean spirals,
are used for compressing gases.[4] The coils of watch balance springs and the grooves of very
early gramophone records form Archimedean spirals, making the grooves evenly spaced
(although variable track spacing was later introduced to maximize the amount of music that
could be cut onto a record).[5] Asking for a patient to draw an Archimedean spiral is a way of
quantifying human tremor; this information helps in diagnosing neurological diseases.
Archimedean spirals are also used in digital light processing (DLP) projection systems to
minimize the "rainbow effect", making it look as if multiple colors are displayed at the same Mechanism of a scroll
time, when in reality red, green, and blue are being cycled extremely quickly.[6] Additionally, compressor
Archimedean spirals are used in food microbiology to quantify bacterial concentration through a
spiral platter.[7] They are also used to model the pattern that occurs in a roll of paper or tape of
.[8][9]
constant thickness wrapped around a cylinder

See also
Archimedes' screw
Fermat's spiral
Golden Spiral of Fibonacci
Hyperbolic spiral
List of spirals
Logarithmic spiral
Spiral of Theodorus
Triple spiral symbol

References
 1. Sloane, N. J. A. (ed.). "Sequence A091154" (https://oeis.org/A091154). The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer
Sequences. OEIS Foundation.
2. "successive turnings of the Archimedean spiral have a constant separation distance"
Havil, Julian (2007).
Nonplussed! Mathematical Proof of Implausible Ideas. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton Universoty Press. p. 109.
ISBN 978-0-691-12056-0.
3. Boyer, Carl B. (1968). A History of Mathematics. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 140–142.
ISBN 0-691-02391-3.
4. Sakata, Hirotsugu; Masayuki Okuda."Fluid compressing device having coaxial spiral members"(http://www.freepate
ntsonline.com/5603614.html). Retrieved 2006-11-25.
5. Penndorf, Ron. "Early Development of the LP"(https://web.archive.org/web/20051105045015/http://ronpenndorf.co
m/journalofrecordedmusic5.html). Archived from the original (http://ronpenndorf.com/journalofrecordedmusic5.html)
on 5 November 2005. Retrieved 2005-11-25.. See the passage on Variable Groove.
6. Ballou, Glen (2008), Handbook for Sound Engineers(https://books.google.com/books?id=zsEBavFYZuEC&pg=P
A1
586), CRC Press, p. 1586,ISBN 9780240809694
7. J. E. Gilchrist; J. E. Campbell; C. B. Donnelly; J. .TPeeler; J. M. Delaney. "Spiral Plate Method for Bacterial
Determination" (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=4632851).
8. Tony Peressini (3 February 2009)."Joan's Paper Roll Problem"(https://web.archive.org/web/20131103150639/http://
mtl.math.uiuc.edu/special_presentations/JoansPaperRollProblem.pdf)(PDF). Archived from the original (http://mtl.m
ath.uiuc.edu/special_presentations/JoansPaperRollProblem.pdf)(PDF) on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 2014-10-06.
9. Walser, H.; Hilton, P.; Pedersen, J.; Mathematical Association of America (2000).Symmetry (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=rU8jvsJMKsgC). Mathematical Association of America. p. 27.ISBN 9780883855324. Retrieved
2014-10-06.

External links
Jonathan Matt making the Archimedean spiral interesting - iVdeo : The surprising beauty of Mathematics- TedX
Talks, Green Farms
Weisstein, Eric W. "Archimedes' Spiral". MathWorld.
archimedean spiral at PlanetMath.org.
Page with Java application to interactively explore the Archimedean spiral and its related curves
Online exploration using JSXGraph (JavaScript)
Archimedean spiral at "mathcurve"

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