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Re: Brachistochrone

The brachistochrone is not the limit of a gradual slope. Perhaps, what John was referring to is simply that it's not surprising that the time needed to traverse the straight line path between two points
is greater than the time to traverse the roller-coaster path between the same points (given all interior points are below the higher endpoint) since, in the limit as the two points define a horizontal
line ("a very gradual slope"), the sliding mass takes an infinite amount of time to traverse the line.

brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net> wrote:

When I mentioned the brachistochrone concept, John Mallinckrodt
mentioned in an aside:

Not really surprising at all in the limit of a very gradual slope.
John

But I don't think the brachistochrone IS the limit of a gradual
slope, is it?

==========
Glenn A. Carlson, P.E.
St. Charles County Community College
St. Peters, Missouri USA
GCarlson@mail.win.org
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