Cycloid Cycloid A cycloid is the curve traced by a point on the rim of a circular wheel as the wheel rolls along a straight line without slipping. A cycloid is a specific form of trochoid and is an example of a roulette, a curve generated by a curve rolling on another curve. The cycloid, with the cusps pointing upward, is the curve of fastest descent under constant gravity, and is also the form of a curve for which the period of an object in descent on the curve does not depend on the object's starting position. The cycloid has been
Pursuit curve Pursuit curve A curve of pursuit is a curve constructed by analogy to having a point or points representing pursuers and pursuees; the curve of pursuit is the curve traced by the pursuers. With the paths of the pursuer and pursuee parameterized in time, the pursuee is always on the pursuer's tangent. That is, given , the pursuer (follower), and , the pursued (leader), for every with there is an such that The path followed by a single pursuer, following a pursuee that moves at constant speed on a line, is a radiodrome. It is a solution of the differential