Involute

In mathematics, an involute (also known

as an evolvent) is a particular type of
curve that is dependent on another shape
or curve. An involute of a curve is the locus
of a point on a piece of taut string as the
string is either unwrapped from or
wrapped around the curve.[1]
 Two involutes (red) of a parabola

The evolute of an involute is the original

curve.

It is generalized by the roulette family of

curves. That is, the involutes of a curve are
the roulettes of the curve generated by a
straight line.

The notions of the involute and evolute of

a curve were introduced by Christiaan
Huygens in his work titled Horologium
oscillatorium sive de motu pendulorum ad
horologia aptato demonstrationes
geometricae (1673), where he showed that
the involute of a cycloid is still a cycloid,
thus providing a method for constructing
the cycloidal pendulum, which has the
useful property that its period is
independent of the amplitude of
oscillation.[2]

Involute of a parameterized
curve

{\displaystyle

Let be a regular curve in

the plane with its curvature nowhere 0 and
 {\displaysty

, then the curve with the

parametric representation

{\displaystyle {\vec {C}}_{a}(t)={\vec {c}}

(t)-{\frac {{\vec {c}}'(t)}{|{\vec {c}}'(t)|}}\;\int

is an involute of the given curve.

Proof
{\

The string acts as a tangent to the curve . Its length is changed by an amount equal to the arc
{\

length traversed as it winds or unwinds. Arc length of the curve traversed in the interval is
given by

{\displaystyle
\int _{a}^{t}|

where is the starting point from where the arc length is measured. Since the tangent vector
depicts the taut string here, we get the string vector as
 {\displaystyle {\frac
{{\vec {c}}'(t)}{|{\vec
()

{\di

The vector corresponding to the end point of the string ( ) can be easily calculated using
vector addition, and one gets

{\displaystyle {\vec {C}}_{a}(t)={\vec {c}}

(t)-{\frac {{\vec {c}}'(t)}{|{\vec {c}}'(t)|}}\;\int
( )
 {

Adding an arbitrary but fixed number to

 {\displaystyle
{\Bigl (}\int _{a}^{t}|

the integral results in

an involute corresponding to a string
 {

extended by (like a ball of wool yarn

having some length of thread already
hanging before it is unwound). Hence, the
 {

involute can be varied by constant

and/or adding a number to the integral
(see Involutes of a semicubic parabola).

{\displaystyle {\vec
If one gets

{\displaystyle
{\begin{aligned}X(t)&=x(t)-{\frac {x'(t)}
{\sqrt {x'(t)^{2}+y'(t)^{2}}}}\int _{a}^{t}
{\sqrt
{x'(w)^{2}+y'(w)^{2}}}\ dw\\Y(t)&=y(t)-
Properties of involutes

Involute: properties. The angles

depicted are 90 degrees.

In order to derive properties of a regular

curve it is advantageous to suppose the
 {

arc length to be the parameter of the

given curve, which lead to the following
{\displaystyl

simplifications: and
{
 {

{\displaystyle \;{\vec

, with the curvature

involute:

{\displaystyle {\vec {C}}_{a}(s)=

and
{\displaystyle {\vec {C}}_{a}'(s)=-{\vec

and the unit normal. One gets for the

and the statement:

 {\disp

At point the involute is not

{\displaystyl

regular (because ),

{\displaystyle \;

and from follows:

The normal of the involute at point
{\dis

is the tangent of the given curve

{\di

at point .
The involutes are parallel curves,
{\displaystyle {\vec

because of
{\dis

and the fact, that is the unit

{\dis

normal at .
The family of involutes and the family of
tangents to the original curve makes up an
orthogonal coordinate system.
Consequently, one may construct involutes
graphically. First, draw the family of
tangent lines. Then, an involute can be
constructed by always staying orthogonal
to the tangent line passing the point.

Cusps

This section is based on.[3]

There are generically two types of cusps in

involutes. The first type is at the point
where the involute touches the curve itself.
This is a cusp of order 3/2. The second
type is at the point where the curve has an
inflection point. This is a cusp of order
5/2.

This can be visually seen by constructing a

{\displaystyle

map defined by

{\displaystyle (s,t)\mapsto
 {\displaysty
where is the arclength
{
slope-angle of the curve at the point
{\displaysty
. This maps the 2D plane into
a surface in 3D space. For example, this
maps the circle into the hyperboloid of one
parametrization of the curve, and is the
sheet.
By this map, the involutes are obtained in a
{

{\
 {\

three-step process: map to , then to

the surface in , then project it down to

{\

by removing the z-axis:

{\displaystyle s\mapsto (s,l-s)\mapsto

 {

where is any real constant.

 {\displaystyle

Since the mapping has

{\dis

nonzero derivative at all , cusps of

the involute can only occur where the
{\displaystyle

derivative of is vertical
(parallel to the z-axis), which can only
 {\

occur where the surface in has a

vertical tangent plane.

Generically, the surface has vertical

tangent planes at only two cases: where
the surface touches the curve, and where
the curve has an inflection point.

cusp of order 3/2

For the first type, one can start by the

involute of a circle, with equation

{\displaystyle
{\begin{aligned}X(t)&=r(\cos t+(t-
 {

{\dis

then set , and expand for small , to

obtain
{\displaystyle
{\begin{aligned}X(t)&=r+rt^{2}/
thus giving the order 3/2 curve
{\displaystyle Y^{2}-{\frac {8}{9r}}(X-
,a
r)^{3}+O(Y^{8/3})=0}
semicubical parabola.
cusp of order 5/2

Tangents and involutes of the cubic

{\dis

curve . The cusps of order 3/2

are on the cubic curve, while the
cusps of order 5/2 are on the x-axis
(the tangent line at the inflection
point).
For the second type, consider the curve
{\displ {\dis {\dis

. The arc from to is

of length
{\displaystyle \int _{0}^{s}{\sqrt {1+
(3t^{2})^{2}}}dt=s+{\frac {9}{10}}s^{5}-

{\dis

, and the tangent at has angle

{\displaystyle

. Thus, the involute

 {

{\dis

starting from at distance has

parametric formula

{\displaystyle {\begin{cases}x(s)=s+(L-s-
{\frac {9}{10}}s^{5}+\cdots )\cos \theta
\\y(s)=s^{3}+(L s {\frac {9}
 {

Expand it up to order , we obtain

{\displaystyle {\begin{cases}x(s)=L-{\frac
{9}{2}}Ls^{4}+({\frac {9}{2}}L-{\frac {9}
which is a cusp of order 5/2. Explicitly, one
may solve for the polynomial expansion
 {\d

satisfied by :
{\displaystyle \left(x-L+{\frac {y^{2}}
{2L}}\right)^{2}-\left({\frac {9}{2}}L+{\frac
or
{\displaystyle x=L-{\frac {y^{2}}{2L}}\pm
\left({\frac {9}{2}}L+{\frac {51}
which clearly shows the cusp shape.

{\disp

Setting , we obtain the involute

passing the origin. It is special as it
contains no cusp. By serial expansion, it
has parametric equation

{\displaystyle {\begin{cases}x(s)={\frac
{18}{5}}s^{5}-{\frac {126}
{5}}s^{9}+O(s^{13})\\y(s)= 2s^{3}+{\frac
{\displaystyle x=-{\frac {18}
or {5\cdot

Examples

Involutes of a circle

Involutes of a circle
For a circle with parametric representation
{\displaystyle
, one has
{\displaystyle {\vec
. Hence
{\displayst

, and the path length is

{\displa

Evaluating the above given equation of the

involute, one gets
 {\displaystyle
{\begin{aligned}X(t)&=r(\cos(t+a)+t\sin(

for the parametric equation of the involute

of the circle.
 {

The term is optional; it serves to set the

start location of the curve on the circle.
{\display

The figure shows involutes for

{\dis
{\displ

(green), (red), (purple) and

{\dis

(light blue). The involutes look like

Archimedean spirals, but they are actually
not.
 {\dis
{\displayst

The arc length for and

of the involute is

{\displays
tyle L=
 Involutes of a semicubic parabola (blue). Only the
red curve is a parabola. Notice how the involutes
and tangents make up an orthogonal coordinate
system. This is a general fact.

Involutes of a semicubic parabola

{\displaystyle
{\ { }}(t)

The parametric equation

describes a semicubical parabola. From
 {\displaystyle

one gets
{\displaystyle |{\vec

and
{\displaystyle \int _{0}^{t}w{\sqrt
{w^{2}+1}}\,dw={\frac {1}{3}}{\sqrt

{\displ
aystyle

. Extending the string by

extensively simplifies further calculation,
and one gets
 {\displaystyle
{\begin{aligned}X(t)
&=-{\frac {t}
{3}}\\Y(t)&={\frac

{\displaystyle Y=
{\frac {3}{2}}X^{2}-
Eliminating t yields
showing that this involute is a parabola.

The other involutes are thus parallel

curves of a parabola, and are not
parabolas, as they are curves of degree six
(See Parallel curve § Further examples).
 The red involute of a catenary (blue)
is a tractrix.

Involutes of a catenary

{\displays

For the catenary , the tangent

{\displaystyle {\vec
vector is , and, as
{\displaystyle 1+\sinh
its length is
{\displaystyle |

. Thus the arc length

from the point (0, 1) is
{\displaystyle \textstyle

Hence the involute starting from (0, 1) is

parametrized by

{\displaystyle (t-\tanh

and is thus a tractrix.

The other involutes are not tractrices, as

they are parallel curves of a tractrix.
Involutes of a cycloid

Involutes of a cycloid (blue): Only the red

curve is another cycloid

The parametric representation

{\displaystyle {\vec {c}}(t)=(t-
describes
a cycloid. From
{\displaystyle {\vec
, one gets
(after having used some trigonometric
formulas)
 {\displaystyle |
{\vec {c}}'(t)|=2\sin

and

{\displaystyle \int _{\pi

}^{t}2\sin {\frac {w}

Hence the equations of the corresponding

involute are

{\displaystyle

{\displaystyle

which describe the shifted red cycloid of

the diagram. Hence
 The involutes of the cycloid
{\displaystyle (t-\sin
are parallel
curves of the cycloid
{\displaystyle (t+\sin

(Parallel curves of a cycloid are not

cycloids.)
Involute and evolute

The evolute of a given curve consists of

 {

the curvature centers of . Between

involutes and evolutes the following
statement holds: [4][5]

A curve is the evolute of any of its

involutes.
 Involute and evolute

Tractrix
(red) as
an
i l t

Tractrix (red) as an involute of a catenary

Involute
of a
catenary

The evolute of a tractrix is a catenary

Application

The most common profiles of modern

gear teeth are involutes of a circle. In an
involute gear system the teeth of two
meshing gears contact at a single
instantaneous point that follows along a
single straight line of action. The forces
exerted the contacting teeth exert on each
other also follow this line, and are normal
to the teeth. The involute gear system
maintaining these conditions follows the
fundamental law of gearing: the ratio of
angular velocities between the two gears
must remain constant throughout.
With teeth of other shapes, the relative
speeds and forces rise and fall as
successive teeth engage, resulting in
vibration, noise, and excessive wear. For
this reason, nearly all modern planar gear
systems are either involute or the related
cycloidal gear system.[6]

Mechanism of a scroll
compressor

The involute of a circle is also an

important shape in gas compressing, as a
scroll compressor can be built based on
this shape. Scroll compressors make less
sound than conventional compressors and
have proven to be quite efficient.

The High Flux Isotope Reactor uses

involute-shaped fuel elements, since these
allow a constant-width channel between
them for coolant.

See also

Envelope (mathematics)
Evolute
Goat grazing problem
Involute gear
Roulette (curve)
Scroll compressor
References

1. Rutter, J.W. (2000). Geometry of Curves (htt

ps://archive.org/details/geometryofcurves0
000rutt/page/204) . CRC Press. pp. 204 (ht
tps://archive.org/details/geometryofcurves
0000rutt/page/204) .
ISBN 9781584881667.
2. McCleary, John (2013). Geometry from a
Differentiable Viewpoint (https://archive.or
g/details/geometryfromdiff00mccl_866) .
Cambridge University Press. pp. 89 (https://
archive.org/details/geometryfromdiff00mc
cl_866/page/n105) .
ISBN 9780521116077.
3. Arnolʹd, V. I. (1990). Huygens and Barrow,
Newton and Hooke : pioneers in
mathematical analysis and catastrophe
theory from evolvents to quasicrystals (http
s://www.worldcat.org/oclc/21873606) .
Basel: Birkhaüser Verlag. ISBN 0-8176-
2383-3. OCLC 21873606 (https://www.worl
dcat.org/oclc/21873606) .
4. K. Burg, H. Haf, F. Wille, A. Meister:
Vektoranalysis: Höhere Mathematik für
Ingenieure, Naturwissenschaftler und ...,
Springer-Verlag, 2012,ISBN 3834883468, S.
30.
5. R. Courant:Vorlesungen über Differential-
und Integralrechnung, 1. Band, Springer-
Verlag, 1955, S. 267.
 6. V. G. A. Goss (2013) "Application of
analytical geometry to the shape of gear
teeth", Resonance 18(9): 817 to 31
Springerlink (https://link.springer.com/articl
e/10.1007%2Fs12045-013-0106-3)
(subscription required).

External links

Involute (http://mathworld.wolfram.co
m/Involute.html) at MathWorld

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