It can be defined either as the locus of the focus of a parabola rolling along a straight line, the evolute of the tractrix, and the locus of the mid- point of the vertical line segment between the curves Òe to the xÓ and Òe to the negative xÓ. It is best defined, however, as the the shape of a perfectly flexible chain suspended by its ends and acted on by gravity, hence the name given to it by Huygens, which is from the Latin for "chain".
It can be defined either as the locus of the focus of a parabola rolling along a straight line, the evolute of the tractrix, and the locus of the mid- point of the vertical line segment between the curves Òe to the xÓ and Òe to the negative xÓ. It is best defined, however, as the the shape of a perfectly flexible chain suspended by its ends and acted on by gravity, hence the name given to it by Huygens, which is from the Latin for "chain".
It can be defined either as the locus of the focus of a parabola rolling along a straight line, the evolute of the tractrix, and the locus of the mid- point of the vertical line segment between the curves Òe to the xÓ and Òe to the negative xÓ. It is best defined, however, as the the shape of a perfectly flexible chain suspended by its ends and acted on by gravity, hence the name given to it by Huygens, which is from the Latin for "chain".
{catenary}