Tangent Vector
For a curve with radius vector
, the unit tangent vector
is defined by
where
is a parameterization variable,
is the arc length, and an overdot denotes a derivative with respect to
,
. For a function given parametrically by
, the tangent vector relative to the point
is therefore given by
To actually place the vector tangent to the curve, it must be displaced by
. It is also true that
where
is the normal vector,
is the curvature,
is the torsion, and
is the scalar triple product.
REFERENCES:
Gray, A. "Tangent and Normal Lines to Plane Curves." §5.5 in Modern Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces with Mathematica, 2nd ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, pp. 108-111, 1997.