Talk:Osculating circle
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merge: see Talk:Contact (mathematics) --W!B: 03:32, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
- In that article, "osculating" seems to mean having three points of intersection. That is not what it means in this article. I was under the impression that this usage is standard in differential geometry. Michael Hardy 22:17, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Minor wording question
When reading
- Osculate literally means to kiss; the term is used because osculation is a more gentle form of contact than simple tangency.
I am not sure the word "gentle" is the best. To be fair, I am having trouble coming up with a good improvement. "accurate", "tight", "precise", "lingering", "following", "parallel", "consistent", "refined", none seem to better capture the concept here. But I don't like "gentle" either.
Maybe someone with a moment of inspiration Roget could be proud of can come through and help out. Baccyak4H 18:10, 7 September 2006 (UTC)
- "Gentle" makes sense because if you go from a tangent line to the curve, your acceleration abruptly changes, whwereas if you go from the osculating circle to the curve, it does not. Michael Hardy 18:32, 7 September 2006 (UTC)
I agree it makes sense that way. I only suspect there is a much more precise word, a better one. But as I cannot come up with it, it shall stand. If I come up with any ideas, I'll post here first. I encourage others to do the same. Baccyak4H 03:48, 8 September 2006 (UTC)
