osculating plane

American  

noun

Mathematics.

1. the plane containing the circle of curvature of a point on a given curve.

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Etymology

Origin of osculating plane

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

Such a curve may be considered as described by a point, moving in a line which at the same time rotates about the point in a plane which at the same time rotates about the line; the point is a point, the line a tangent, and the plane an osculating plane, of the curve; moreover the line is a generating line, and the plane a tangent plane, of a developable surface or torse, having the curve for its edge of regression.

From Project Gutenberg

It cuts the osculating plane in a line called the principal normal.

From Project Gutenberg

The normal perpendicular to the osculating plane is called the binormal.

From Project Gutenberg

It cuts the osculating plane in a circle, called the circle of absolute curvature; and the centre and radius of this circle are the centre and radius of absolute curvature.

From Project Gutenberg

The osculating plane at any point of such a curve is the nul-plane of the point with respect to the complex, and points of superosculation always coincide in pairs at the points of contact of stationary tangents.

From Project Gutenberg