Crossword clues for curvature
curvature
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Curvature \Cur"va*ture\ (k?r"v?-t?r; 135), n. [L. curvatura. See Curvate.]
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The act of curving, or the state of being bent or curved; a curving or bending, normal or abnormal, as of a line or surface from a rectilinear direction; a bend; a curve.
--Cowper.The elegant curvature of their fronds.
--Darwin. -
(Math.) The amount of degree of bending of a mathematical curve, or the tendency at any point to depart from a tangent drawn to the curve at that point.
Aberrancy of curvature (Geom.), the deviation of a curve from a circular form.
Absolute curvature. See under Absolute.
Angle of curvature (Geom.), one that expresses the amount of curvature of a curve.
Chord of curvature. See under Chord.
Circle of curvature. See Osculating circle of a curve, under Circle.
Curvature of the spine (Med.), an abnormal curving of the spine, especially in a lateral direction.
Radius of curvature, the radius of the circle of curvature, or osculatory circle, at any point of a curve.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1660s, from Latin curvatura "a bending," from curvatus, past participle of curvare "to bend" (see curve (v.)). In non-Euclidian geometry, from 1873.\n
Wiktionary
n. 1 The shape of something curved. 2 (context mathematics English) The extent to which a subspace is curved within a metric space. 3 (context differential geometry English) The extent to which a Riemannian manifold is intrinsically curved.
WordNet
n. (medicine) a curving or bending; often abnormal; "curvature of the spine"
the rate of change (at a point) of the angle between a curve and a tangent to the curve
the property possessed by the curving of a line or surface [syn: curve]
Wikipedia
Curvature refers to mathematical concepts in different areas of geometry.
Curvature may also refer to:
- Curvature LLC, a network hardware company
- Human vertebral column, Curvature of the spine
- Curvatures of the stomach, Curvatures of the stomach
- Figure of the Earth, Curvature of the Earth
- Degree of curvature, Degree of curvature used in civil engineering
In mathematics, curvature is any of a number of loosely related concepts in different areas of geometry. Intuitively, curvature is the amount by which a geometric object such as a surface deviates from being a flat plane, or a curve from being straight as in the case of a line, but this is defined in different ways depending on the context. There is a key distinction between extrinsic curvature, which is defined for objects embedded in another space (usually a Euclidean space) – in a way that relates to the radius of curvature of circles that touch the object –, and intrinsic curvature, which is defined at each point in a Riemannian manifold. This article deals primarily with the first concept.
The canonical example of extrinsic curvature is that of a circle, which has a curvature equal to the reciprocal of its radius everywhere. Smaller circles bend more sharply, and hence have higher curvature. The curvature of a smooth curve is defined as the curvature of its osculating circle at each point.
More commonly curvature is a scalar quantity, but one may also define a curvature vector that takes into account the direction of the bend as well as its sharpness. The curvature of more complex objects (such as surfaces or even curved n-dimensional spaces) is described by more complex objects from linear algebra, such as the general Riemann curvature tensor.
The remainder of this article discusses, from a mathematical perspective, some geometric examples of curvature: the curvature of a curve embedded in a plane and the curvature of a surface in Euclidean space. See the links below for further reading.
Usage examples of "curvature".
So, at those times we increase the curvature, by extending sections in the front and backflaps at the back, and slats at the leading edge.
Although only 9 out of 39 radicles were affected, yet the curvature was so distinct in several of them, that there could be no doubt that the tip is sensitive to slight contact, and that the growing part bends away from the touching object.
The curvature often amounts to a rectangle,--that is, the terminal part bends upwards until the tip, which is but little curved, projects almost horizontally.
In the skeletons of the several breeds, the development of the bones of the face in length and breadth and curvature differs enormously.
The curvature of Einsteinian space vibrated like a plucked violin string.
Each face of the diamond was perfectly Euclidean, but the six sharp points were like infinitely concentrated repositories of curvature.
Here, the curvature had been tailored on the spot, woven directly into the graphs by the choice of vendeks.
See the two little legs, the U shape between the curvature into this headlike protrusion?
In young males, the horns at first resemble in direction and slight curvature those of the female, but they are always thicker at the base and distinctly triangular.
Ultimately not a trace of the former curvature is left, except in the case of the leaflike cotyledons of the onion.
Finally the moldboard plow was created which completely overturns the soil because of its increased curvature.
Therefore Fig. 15 represents fairly well the movements of the cotyledons alone, with the exception of the one great afternoon curvature to the left.
He was distracted from this interlude of austere self-veneration by the awareness that the sheet of paper on which he was calculating was not perfectly flat, containing many distortions in the form of furrows and grooves, meager ravines, curvature rampant from point to point.
The curvature of the radicle sometimes occurs within from 6 to 8 hours after the tip has been irritated, and almost always within 24 h.
The peduncles can change the direction of their curvature, for if a pot, with plants having their peduncles already bowed downwards, be placed horizontally, they slowly bend at right angles to their former direction towards the centre of the earth.