In Praise of the Catenary

Authors

Fred Behroozi, University of Northern IowaFollow

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book/Conference Title Title

The Physics Teacher

Volume

56

Issue

4

First Page

214

Last Page

217

Abstract

When a chain hangs loosely from its end points, it takes the familiar form known as the catenary. Power lines, clothes lines, and chain links are familiar examples of the catenary in everyday life. Nevertheless, the subject is conspicuously absent from current introductory physics and calculus courses.1 Even in upper-level physics and math courses, the catenary equation is usually introduced as an example of hyperbolic functions or discussed as an application of the calculus of variations. We present a new derivation of the catenary equation that is suitable for introductory physics and mathematics courses.

Department

Department of Physics

Comments

First published in The Physics Teacher, v. 56 n. 4 (2018), pp. 214-217, published by The American Institute of Physics. DOI: 10.1119/1.5028233

Original Publication Date

2018

DOI of published version

10.1119/1.5028233

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, University of Northern Iowa, Rod Library

Copyright

©2018 Fred Behroozi. The copyright holder has granted permission for posting.

Date Digital

2018

Language

EN

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Behroozi, Fred, "In Praise of the Catenary" (2018). Faculty Publications. 24.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/phy_facpub/24