The Brachistochrone Curve - Which theories apply?

[FredLau]

Hello,
I am doing a physics exam, where I have chosen to create a Brachistochrone curve, and perform various tests on it.
Furthermore, I also have to write a physics report, containing the theory behind the curve, but I am not 100% sure what some of the theories behind the curve are. I suppose it would apply to gravitational acceleration, since it is only affected by that force. But could anyone maybe explain to me just a bit more about the theory behind this curve? Thank you!

- Frederik L. Rasmussen

 

[PeroK]

What did you find using the Internet?

 

[FredLau]

What did you find using the Internet?

Don't worry, I have been looking on the internet!
But I am not a native English speaker, so a lot of the things I have been able to find has been somewhat hard for me to understand..
So I thought it would be easier to ask in here.

 

[PeroK]

Don't worry, I have been looking on the internet!
But I am not a native English speaker, so a lot of the things I have been able to find has been somewhat hard for me to understand..
So I thought it would be easier to ask in here.

There must be a lot of available material with diagrams and which took hours to put together, so it's impossible for anyone here to do better than that. What we can do is answer specific questions about something you don't understand.

Where havve you got to in your project? Do you understand the problem? The idea behind the solution? What level of mathematics do you know?