Arc Length and

Curvature
Given a smooth plane curve C that has parametric equations
x = x(t) and y = y(t) where a  t  b , the arc length s is given
by
b
2 2
s  x(t )    y(t )  dt
a

In vector form, where C is given by r(t)=x(t)i + y(t)j, the above equation can be
written as b
s   r (t ) dt
a
We can extend this formula to space quite naturally as follows:

If C is a smooth curve given by r(t)= x(t)i + y(t)j +z(t)k on an

interval [a,b], then the arc length C on the interval is
b b
2 2 2
s    x(t )    y(t )    z (t )  dt   r (t ) dt
a a
Example 1: Find the length of the space curve over the given interval.
r (t )  2sin t ,5t , 2 cos t 0,  

Set up the integral

r (t )  2sin t ,5t , 2 cos t 0,  
r (t )  2 cos t ,5, 2sin t
Find the derivative of the vector.


 4 cos 2 t  25  4sin 2 t dt
0 Substitute into the formula.



0
4(sin 2 t  cos 2 t )  25 dt
Simplify
 

 4  25 dt   29 dt  29 t
0
 29
0 0 Integrate and evaluate.
Using the arc length parameter to describe a
plane curve or space curve.

Curves can be represented by vector-valued functions in different ways

depending on the choice of parameter.
For example the following two representations are equivalent.

r (t )  t , t 2 , t 3 on 1  t  2 and r (u )  eu , e 2u , e 3u on 0  u  ln 2
Proof
Let u  ln t , then eu  t , e2 u  t 2 , e3u  t 3
and ln1  ln t  ln 2  0  u  ln 2
thus
r (u )  eu , e 2 u , e3u on 0  u  ln 2
For motion along a curve the most convenient parameter is time t. However,
for studying the geometric properties of a curve, the convenient parameter is
often arc length s.
If C is a smooth curve given by r(t)= x(t)i + y(t)j +z(t)k on an interval [a,b],
then the arc length of C on the interval [a,b] , with a<t<b is C = s(t) which is

𝑡 𝑡

𝑎
′

𝑎
√ ′ 2 ′ 2
𝑠(𝑡)=∫‖r (𝑡)‖ 𝑑𝑢=∫ [ 𝑥 (𝑡 ) ] + [ 𝑦 (𝑡 ) ] + [ 𝑧 (𝑡) ] 𝑑𝑡
′ 2

The arc length s is called the arc length parameter.

Example 2: Consider the curve represented by the vector-valued function

3
r (t )  4 sin t  t cos t  , 4 cos t  t sin t  , t 2
2
A. Write the length of the arc s as a function of t by evaluating
the integral:
𝑡
𝑠=∫
0
√ [ 𝑥 (𝑡) ] + [ 𝑦 (𝑡) ] + [ 𝑧 (𝑡) ] 𝑑 𝑡
′ 2 ′ 2 ′ 2

𝑟 (𝑡)=⟨4(cos𝑡+𝑡sin𝑡−cos𝑡),4(−sin𝑡+𝑡cos𝑡+sin𝑡),3𝑡⟩
Solution:

′
 Example 2: Consider the curve represented by the vector-valued function
3
r (t )  4 sin t  t cos t  , 4 cos t  t sin t  , t 2
2
B. Solve for t in part A and substitute the result into the original set of parametric
equations. This yields a parameterization of the curve in terms of the arc length
parameter s.

Solution:

5 2 2s 2 2s
s t  t t 
2 5 5

⟨ ( √ √ √ ) ( √ √ √ ) (√ ) ⟩
2
2𝑠 2𝑠 2𝑠 2𝑠 2 𝑠 2𝑠 3 2 𝑠
𝑟 (𝑡(𝑠))= 4 sin − cos ,4 cos + sin ,
5 5 5 5 5 5 2 5
 Curvature
An important use of the arc length parameter is to find curvature.

Curvature is the measure of how sharply the curve bends.

For example, in this helix(spiral) we get more bend

here

Than here.
 We can calculate curvature by calculating the magnitude of the rate of change of the
unit tangent vector T with respect to the arc length s.
T2
T3

T1

Definition of Curvature
Let C be a smooth curve ( in the plane or in space) given by r(s),
where s is the arc length parameter. The curvature K at s is given
by
dT
K  T (s)
ds
Example 3: Find the curvature using s is the arc length parameter, for
3 2
r (t )  4(sin t  t cos t ) i  4(cos t  t sin t ) j + t k
2
Solution: This was the problem we did earlier and found the arc length
parameter to be: 2s and the function to be
t
5

2
 2s 2s 2s   2s 2s 2s  3  2s 
r (t ( s ))  4  sin  cos  
, 4 cos  sin  ,  
 5 5 5 5 5 5 2 5
     
Using the formula for curvature K in terms of arc length s, namely

and knowing that

4 2s 4 2s 3
T ( s )  r ( s )  sin , cos , ,
5 5 5 5 5

dT
Since curvature K is K  T (s)
ds
 dT
K  T (s)
ds

4 2s 4 2s 3
T ( s )  r ( s )  sin , cos ,
5 5 5 5 5

1 4 2 2s 1 4 2 2s
T ( s)  r ( s)   cos ,  sin ,0
2 5 5s 5 2 5 5s 5

2 2 2 s 2 2 2s
T ( s)  r ( s)  cos , sin ,0
5 5s 5 5 5s 5

4 2 2s 4 2 2s
T ( s)   cos 2   sin 2 0
25 5s 5 25 5s 5

8  2 2s 2s 
T ( s)   cos  sin 2

125s  5 5 

8 2 2 5s 2 10 s
T ( s)    
125s 5 5s 5s 25s
Other formulas for curvature.
Since the previous definition depends on the arc length
parameter, it might be good to have some alternative definitions
which depend on an arbitrary parameter t.

Two formulas for curvature

If C is a smooth curve given by r(t), then the
curvature K of C at t is given by

T (t ) r (t )  r (t )

K 
r (t ) r (t )
3
Example 4: using the alternative curvature formula on the
same vector-valued function
3 2
r (t )  4(sin t  t cos t ) i  4(cos t  t sin t ) j + t k
2
We can compare our answers. From Example 2A we already know that
r (t )  4t sin t , 4t cos t ,3t
r (t )  5t

Next we need to find T(t).

r (t ) 4t sin t , 4t cos t ,3t 4sin t 4 cos t 3

T (t )    , ,
r (t ) 5t 5 5 5

Now
4sin t 4 cos t 3
T (t )  , ,
5 5 5
4 cos t 4sin t
T (t )  , ,0
5 5
 T (t ) r (t )  r (t )
Using the formula K 
r (t ) r (t )
3

Now we find T (t )

4 cos t 4sin t
T (t )  , ,0
5 5
16 16 4
T (t )  cos 2 t  sin 2 t 
25 25 5
4
T (t ) 4
K  5 
r (t ) 5t 25t
Using the other formula 4
r (t )  r (t )
K T (t ) 4
We have 3 K  5 
r (t ) r (t ) 5t 25t
r (t )  4t sin t , 4t cos t ,3t
r (t )  5t
we need r (t )  4t cos t  4sin t , 4t sin t  4 cos t ,3
i j k
r (t )  r (t )  4t sin t 4t cos t 3t 
4t cos t  4sin t 4t sin t  4 cos t 3
12t cos t i  3t ( 4t cos t  4sin t ) j  ( 4t sin t )( 4t sin t  4 cos t ) k
 3t (4t sin t  4 cos t ) i  (12t sin t ) j  4t cos t ( 4t cos t  4sin t ) k  
(12t cos t  12t 2 sin t  12t cos t )i  ( 12t 2 cos t  12t sin t  12t sin t ) j
 (16t 2 sin 2 t  16t sin t cos t  16t 2 cos 2 t  16t cos t sin t ) k 
(12t 2 sin t )i  ( 12t 2 cos t ) j  (16t 2 sin 2 t  16t 2 cos2 t )k  (12t 2 sin t )i  ( 12t 2 cos t ) j  (16t 2 )k
we need r (t )  r (t )
144t 4 sin 2 t  144t 4 cos 2 t  256t 4  144t 4  256t 4  400t 4  20t 2

r (t )  r (t ) 20t 2 4

K 3
 
r (t ) 125t 3 25t