The Plane spanned by the three points ,
, and
on a curve as . Let be a point on the osculating plane, then
where
denotes the Scalar Triple Product. The osculating plane passes through the tangent.
The intersection of the osculating plane with the Normal Plane is known as the Principal Normal Vector. The
Vectors and (Tangent Vector and Normal Vector) span the osculating plane.
See also Normal Vector, Osculating Sphere, Scalar Triple Product, Tangent Vector
© 1996-9 Eric W. Weisstein
1999-05-26