Edwin's Fabulous Four-Leaf Clover:

This space curve was produced using the following Maple
commands:
> base_x:=sin(t)*sin(2*t);
> base_y:=cos(t)*sin(2*t);
> z:=0.2*sin(100*t);
base_x := sin(t) sin(2 t)
base_y := cos(t) sin(2 t)
z := .2 sin(100 t)
> dx:=diff(base_x,t):
> dy:=diff(base_y,t):
> T_x:=simplify(dx/sqrt(dx^2+dy^2));
> T_y:=simplify(dy/sqrt(dx^2+dy^2));
2
sin(t) (3 cos(t) - 1)
T_x := ------------------------------
4 2 1/2
(3 cos(t) - 3 cos(t) + 1)
2
cos(t) (3 cos(t) - 2)
T_y := ------------------------------
4 2 1/2
(3 cos(t) - 3 cos(t) + 1)
> dT_x:=diff(T_x,t):
> dT_y:=diff(T_y,t):
> N_x:=simplify(dT_x/sqrt(dT_x^2+dT_y^2));
> N_y:=simplify(dT_y/sqrt(dT_x^2+dT_y^2));
/
2 4 6 / |
N_x := cos(t) (12 cos(t) - 15 cos(t) + 9 cos(t) - 4) / |
/ |
\
/ 2 4 2\1/2\
4 2 3/2 |(2 - 3 cos(t) + 3 cos(t) ) | |
(3 cos(t) - 3 cos(t) + 1) |----------------------------| |
| 4 2 2| |
\(3 cos(t) - 3 cos(t) + 1) / /
/
2 4 6 / |
N_y := - sin(t) (9 cos(t) - 12 cos(t) + 9 cos(t) - 2) / |
/ |
\
/ 2 4 2\1/2\
4 2 3/2 |(2 - 3 cos(t) + 3 cos(t) ) | |
(3 cos(t) - 3 cos(t) + 1) |----------------------------| |
| 4 2 2| |
\(3 cos(t) - 3 cos(t) + 1) / /
> x:=base_x+0.1*(N_x*cos(100*t)+N_y*sin(100*t)):
> y:=base_y+0.1*(N_x*sin(100*t)+N_y*cos(100*t)):
> with(plots):
> spacecurve([x,y,z],t=0..2*Pi,numpoints=2000,axes='NORMAL',
> scaling='CONSTRAINED',thickness=2,orientation=[-80,40]);
SFU /
Math & Stats /
~hebron /
math252 /
assignments /
sol03 /
studentcurves /
edwin.html
Revised 11 Feburary 1999 by
John Hebron.