Calculus (3rd Edition)

Published by W. H. Freeman
ISBN 10: 1464125260
ISBN 13: 978-1-46412-526-3

Chapter 14 - Calculus of Vector-Valued Functions - 14.4 Curvature - Exercises - Page 735: 49

Answer

The normal vector ${\bf{N}}\left( t \right)$ at $t=1$ is ${\bf{N}}\left( 1 \right) = \left( {0,\frac{1}{{\sqrt 2 }}, - \frac{1}{{\sqrt 2 }}} \right)$

Work Step by Step

We have ${\bf{r}}\left( t \right) = \left( {\frac{{{t^2}}}{2},\frac{{{t^3}}}{3},t} \right)$. The derivatives are ${\bf{r}}'\left( t \right) = \left( {t,{t^2},1} \right)$ and ${\bf{r}}{\rm{''}}\left( t \right) = \left( {1,2t,0} \right)$. Let ${\rm{v}}\left( t \right) = ||{\bf{r}}'\left( t \right)||$. So, ${\rm{v}}\left( t \right) = \sqrt {{t^4} + {t^2} + 1} $ $v'\left( t \right) = \frac{{4{t^3} + 2t}}{{2\sqrt {{t^4} + {t^2} + 1} }} = \frac{{2{t^3} + t}}{{\sqrt {{t^4} + {t^2} + 1} }}$ Evaluate $v\left( t \right){\bf{r}}{\rm{''}}\left( t \right) - v'\left( t \right){\bf{r}}'\left( t \right)$ at $t=1$: $v\left( 1 \right){\bf{r}}{\rm{''}}\left( 1 \right) - v'\left( 1 \right){\bf{r}}'\left( 1 \right) = \sqrt 3 \left( {1,2,0} \right) - \frac{3}{{\sqrt 3 }}\left( {1,1,1} \right)$ $v\left( 1 \right){\bf{r}}{\rm{''}}\left( 1 \right) - v'\left( 1 \right){\bf{r}}'\left( 1 \right) = \left( {0,\sqrt 3 , - \sqrt 3 } \right)$ By Eq. (12), the normal vector ${\bf{N}}\left( t \right)$ at $t=1$ is given by ${\bf{N}}\left( 1 \right) = \frac{{v\left( 1 \right){\bf{r}}{\rm{''}}\left( 1 \right) - v'\left( 1 \right){\bf{r}}'\left( 1 \right)}}{{||v\left( 1 \right){\bf{r}}{\rm{''}}\left( 1 \right) - v'\left( 1 \right){\bf{r}}'\left( 1 \right)||}}$ ${\bf{N}}\left( 1 \right) = \frac{{\left( {0,\sqrt 3 , - \sqrt 3 } \right)}}{{||\left( {0,\sqrt 3 , - \sqrt 3 } \right)||}} = \frac{1}{{\sqrt 6 }}\left( {0,\sqrt 3 , - \sqrt 3 } \right)$ ${\bf{N}}\left( 1 \right) = \left( {0,\frac{1}{{\sqrt 2 }}, - \frac{1}{{\sqrt 2 }}} \right)$
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