Finding Perpendicular Spirals in a Family of Curves

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around identifying a family of curves such that the tangent at any point on one curve is always perpendicular to the tangent at some point on another curve within the family. The inquiry includes considerations of spirals and curves that intersect at a common point, with a focus on the geometric properties of these curves.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant proposes that they are looking for a family of spirals that either sink into or out of a point, but acknowledges this as a guess without rigorous proof.
  • The same participant discusses the mathematical condition for tangents to be perpendicular, stating that the product of the slopes of the tangents must equal -1.
  • Another participant clarifies that by "family of curves," they mean curves that intersect at a single point and can be generated by rotating one curve around an axis at that point.
  • A later reply suggests that a sufficient condition for the problem could be that for any given slope and curve, there exists a point on the curve where the tangent has that slope, citing the family of circles passing through a common point as an example.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the nature of the curves and the conditions required for the tangents to be perpendicular. The discussion remains unresolved, with multiple competing ideas presented.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations in the assumptions made about the curves and the conditions for perpendicularity, as well as the dependence on specific definitions of the family of curves. The integration boundaries mentioned are also not fully explored.

IWantToLearn
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I am looking for a family of curves where if we consider one curve of them and get the tangent of that curve at any arbitrary point on the curve, then you will always find a point in the other curves where the tangent of this point is perpendicular to the tangent of the first point.

My guess for the solution of this, is that i am looking for a family of spirals that is sink in or out of some point.
but this is just a guess without any rigorous prove,

I tried this:
let ##y_n## be the family of curves, consider two adjacent curves ##y_1 (x)## and ##y_2 (x)##, and that first derivatives (slopes of the tangents) are ##y^\prime_1## and ##y^\prime_2##

for those two tangents to be perpendicular we must have ##y^\prime_1 y^\prime_2 = -1##

lets consider ##S## an equal distance around the curves, where ##S_1 = S_2 = S##, then we have :

##S_1 = \int_{x_1}^{x_2} \sqrt{1+{y^\prime_1}^2} \, dx##
##S_2 = \int_{x_3}^{x_4} \sqrt{1+{y^\prime_2}^2} \, dx##

Assuming we know all the integration boundaries ##x_1,x_2,x_3,x_4##
so we can write

##\int_{x_1}^{x_2} \sqrt{1+{y^\prime_1}^2} \, dx = \int_{x_3}^{x_4} \sqrt{1+\frac{1}{{y^\prime_1}^2}} \, dx##

but i don't know what to do next?
 
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IWantToLearn said:
you will always find a point in the other curves where the tangent of this point is perpendicular to the tangent of the first point.
A sufficient condition would be that for any given slope and any given curve there is a point on the curve at which the tangent has that slope. The family of circles of a given radius and passing through a common point would do.
 

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