Curves Defined by

10.1 Parametric Equations

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Curves Defined by Parametric Equations
Imagine that a particle moves along the curve C shown in
Figure 1. It is impossible to describe C by an equation of
the form y = f(x) because C fails the Vertical Line Test.

Figure 1

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Curves Defined by Parametric Equations
But the x- and y-coordinates of the particle are functions of
time and so we can write x = f(t) and y = g(t). Such a pair of
equations is often a convenient way of describing a curve
and gives rise to the following definition.

Suppose that x and y are both given as functions of a third

variable t (called a parameter) by the equations

x = f(t) y = g(t)

(called parametric equations).

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Curves Defined by Parametric Equations
Each value of t determines a point (x, y), which we can plot
in a coordinate plane.

As t varies, the point (x, y) = (f(t), g(t)) varies and traces out
a curve C, which we call a parametric curve.

The parameter t does not necessarily represent time and,

in fact, we could use a letter other than t for the parameter.

But in many applications of parametric curves, t does

denote time and therefore we can interpret (x,
y) = (f(t), g(t)) as the position of a particle at time t.
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Example 1
Sketch and identify the curve defined by the parametric
equations
x = t2 – 2t y=t+1

Solution:
Each value of t gives a point on the curve, as shown in the
table.

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

For instance, if t = 0, then x = 0, y = 1 and so the

corresponding point is (0, 1).

In Figure 2 we plot the points (x, y) determined by several

values of the parameter and we join them to produce a
curve.

Figure 2
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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

A particle whose position is given by the parametric

equations moves along the curve in the direction of the
arrows as t increases.

Notice that the consecutive points marked on the curve

appear at equal time intervals but not at equal distances.
That is because the particle slows down and then speeds
up as t increases.

It appears from Figure 2 that the curve traced out by the

particle may be a parabola.

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

This can be confirmed by eliminating the parameter t as

follows. We obtain t = y – 1 from the second equation and
substitute into the first equation.

This gives
x = t2 – 2t
= (y – 1)2 – 2(y – 1)
= y2 – 4y + 3

and so the curve represented by the given parametric

equations is the parabola x = y2 – 4y + 3.
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Curves Defined by Parametric Equations
No restriction was placed on the parameter t in Example 1,
so we assumed that t could be any real number.

But sometimes we restrict t to lie in a finite interval. For

instance, the parametric curve

x = t2 – 2t y=t+1 0≤t≤4

shown in Figure 3 is the part of the

parabola in Example 1 that starts at
the point (0, 1) and ends at the
point (8, 5).
Figure 3
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Curves Defined by Parametric Equations
The arrowhead indicates the direction in which the curve is
traced as t increases from 0 to 4.

In general, the curve with parametric equations

x = f(t) y = g(t) a≤t≤b

has initial point (f(a), g(a)) and terminal point (f(b), g(b)).

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Example 2
What curve is represented by the following parametric
equations?

x = cos t y = sin t 0 ≤ t ≤ 2π

Solution:
If we plot points, it appears that the curve is a circle. We
can confirm this impression by eliminating t. Observe that

x2 + y2 = cos2t + sin2t = 1

Thus the point (x, y) moves on the unit circle x2 + y2 = 1.

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Example 2 – Solution cont’d

Notice that in this example the parameter t can be

interpreted as the angle (in radians) shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4

As t increases from 0 to 2π, the point (x, y) = (cos t, sin t)

moves once around the circle in the counterclockwise
direction starting from the point (1, 0).
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Graphing Devices

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Graphing Devices
Most graphing calculators and other graphing devices can
be used to graph curves defined by parametric equations.

In fact, it’s instructive to watch a parametric curve being

drawn by a graphing calculator because the points are
plotted in order as the corresponding parameter values
increase.

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Example 6
Use a graphing device to graph the curve x = y 4 – 3y2.

Solution:
If we let the parameter be t = y, then we have the equations

x = t 4 – 3t2 y=t

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Example 6 – Solution cont’d

Using these parametric equations to graph the curve, we

obtain Figure 9.

Figure 9

It would be possible to solve the given equation

(x = y4 – 3y2) for y as four functions of x and graph them
individually, but the parametric equations provide a much
easier method.
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Graphing Devices
One of the most important uses of parametric curves is in
computer-aided design (CAD).

In the Laboratory Project, we will investigate special

parametric curves, called Bézier curves, that are used
extensively in manufacturing, especially in the automotive
industry.

These curves are also employed in specifying the shapes

of letters and other symbols in laser printers.

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The Cycloid

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Example 7
The curve traced out by a point P on the circumference of a
circle as the circle rolls along a straight line is called a
cycloid (see Figure 13).

Figure 13

If the circle has radius r and rolls along the x-axis and if one
position of P is the origin, find parametric equations for the
cycloid.

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Example 7 – Solution
We choose as parameter the angle of rotation θ of the
circle (θ = 0 when P is at the origin). Suppose the circle has
rotated through θ radians.

Figure 14

Because the circle has been in contact with the line, we

see from Figure 14 that the distance it has rolled from the
origin is
|OT| = arc PT = rθ
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Example 7 – Solution cont’d

Therefore the center of the circle is C(rθ, r). Let the

coordinates of P be (x, y). Then from Figure 14 we see that

x = |OT| – |PQ| = rθ – r sin θ = r(θ – sin θ )

y = |TC| – |QC| = r – r cos θ = r(1 – cos θ )

Therefore parametric equations of the cycloid are

x = r(θ – sin θ ) y = r(1 – cos θ ) θ ∈

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Example 7 – Solution cont’d

One arch of the cycloid comes from one rotation of the

circle and so is described by 0 ≤ θ ≤ 2π.

Although Equations 1 were derived from Figure 14, which

illustrates the case where 0 < θ < π /2, it can be seen that
these equations are still valid for other values of θ.

Figure 14

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Example 7 – Solution cont’d

Although it is possible to eliminate the parameter θ from

Equations 1, the resulting Cartesian equation in x and y is
very complicated and not as convenient to work with as the
parametric equations.

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The Cycloid
One of the first people to study the cycloid was Galileo,
who proposed that bridges be built in the shape of cycloids
and who tried to find the area under one arch of a cycloid.

Later this curve arose in connection with the

brachistochrone problem: Find the curve along which a
particle will slide in the shortest time (under the influence of
gravity) from a point A to a lower point B not directly
beneath A.

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The Cycloid
The Swiss mathematician John Bernoulli, who posed this
problem in 1696, showed that among all possible curves
that join A to B, as in Figure 15, the particle will take the
least time sliding from A to B if the curve is part of an
inverted arch of a cycloid.

Figure 15
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The Cycloid
The Dutch physicist Huygens had already shown that the
cycloid is also the solution to the tautochrone problem;
that is, no matter where a particle P is placed on an
inverted cycloid, it takes the same time to slide to the
bottom (see Figure 16).

Figure 16

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The Cycloid
Huygens proposed that pendulum clocks (which he
invented) should swing in cycloidal arcs because then the
pendulum would take the same time to make a complete
oscillation whether it swings through a wide or a small arc.

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Families of Parametric Curves

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Example 8
Investigate the family of curves with parametric equations

x = a + cos t y = a tan t + sin t

What do these curves have in common? How does the

shape change as a increases?

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Example 8 – Solution
We use a graphing device to produce the graphs for the
cases a = –2, –1, –0.5, –0.2, 0, 0.5, 1, and 2 shown in
Figure 17.

Members of the family x = a + cos t, y = a tan t + sin t, all graphed

in the viewing rectangle [–4, 4] by [–4, 4]

Figure 17
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Example 8 – Solution cont’d

Notice that all of these curves (except the case a = 0) have

two branches, and both branches approach the vertical
asymptote x = a as x approaches a from the left or right.

When a < –1, both branches are smooth; but when a

reaches –1, the right branch acquires a sharp point, called
a cusp.

For a between –1 and 0 the cusp turns into a loop, which

becomes larger as a approaches 0. When a = 0, both
branches come together and form a circle.

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Example 8 – Solution cont’d

For a between 0 and 1, the left branch has a loop, which

shrinks to become a cusp when a = 1.

For a > 1, the branches become smooth again, and as a

increases further, they become less curved. Notice that the
curves with a positive are reflections about the y-axis of the
corresponding curves with a negative.

These curves are called conchoids of Nicomedes after

the ancient Greek scholar Nicomedes. He called them
conchoids because the shape of their outer branches
resembles that of a conch shell or mussel shell.
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