How to Calculate the Curve of a Circle
Despite being something we grow up seeing everywhere, circles play a very important role in mathematics. Circles allow us to understand periodic functions such as sound and light waves. They give us insight into interesting mathematical concepts such as the number pi. Being able to calculate the curvature of a circle is a very useful skill to have as it allows an even better understanding of the shape. The curve of a circle can be found with just the information in front of you.
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Instructions
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1
Measure the distance from the center of your circle to its perimeter using your tape measure. This distance is called the radius.
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2
Line your protractor up with the center of the circle, making sure that the placement hole is as close to the center as possible. The protractor allows you to find the angle in degrees of any given section of a circle
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3
Move the arm of the protractor until you get to the portion of your circle you are calculating the curvature of. If you want to know the angle for the entire circle, that is always 360 degrees.
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4
Look at where the moving arm meets the protractor and take note of how many degrees your angle is for your desired section of curvature.
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5
Divide your angle in degrees by 180 and then multiply that number by pi (3.14159...) using your calculator. This will convert your angle from degrees into radians.
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6
Multiply your angle (in radians) by the radius you found in Step 1 using your calculator. The answer you get here is the curvature of the circle.
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Tips & Warnings
Use a pencil to make a dot at the center of the circle to help with using the protractor.
If your circle is too big for your protractor, you can attach string to the moving arm and extend it as long as necessary.
References
- Photo Credit School subjects. Isolation on a white background image by mashe from Fotolia.com
