Viviani's curve

Viviani's curve: intersection of a sphere with a tangent cylinder

The light blue part of the half sphere can be squared

In mathematics, Viviani's curve, also known as Viviani's window, is a figure eight shaped space curve named after the Italian mathematician Vincenzo Viviani. It is the intersection of a sphere with a cylinder that is tangent to the sphere and passes through the center of the sphere (see diagram). Before Viviani this curve was studied by Simon de La Loubère and Gilles de Roberval.

The projection of Viviani's curve onto a plane perpendicular to the line through the crossing point and the sphere center is the lemniscate of Gerono.

In 1692 Viviani tackled the task: Cut out of a half sphere (radius [math]\displaystyle{ r }[/math]) two windows, such that the remaining surface (of the half sphere) can be squared, i.e. a square with the same area can be constructed using only compasses and ruler. His solution has an area of [math]\displaystyle{ 4r^2 }[/math] (see below).

Equations

cylinder upright.

In order to keep the proof for squaring simple,

the sphere has the equation [math]\displaystyle{ \; x^2+y^2+z^2=r^2\; }[/math]

and

the cylinder is upright with equation [math]\displaystyle{ \; x^2+y^2-rx=0\; }[/math].

The cylinder has radius [math]\displaystyle{ r/2 }[/math] and is tangent to the sphere at point [math]\displaystyle{ (r,0,0)\ . }[/math]

Properties of the curve

Floor plan, elevation and side plan

Floor plan, elevation and side plan

Elimination of [math]\displaystyle{ x }[/math] , [math]\displaystyle{ y }[/math] , [math]\displaystyle{ z }[/math] respectively yields:

The orthogonal projection of the intersection curve onto the

[math]\displaystyle{ x }[/math]-[math]\displaystyle{ y }[/math]-plane is the circle with equation [math]\displaystyle{ \; (x-\tfrac{r}{2})^2+y^2=(\tfrac{r}{2})^2\ . }[/math]

[math]\displaystyle{ x }[/math]-[math]\displaystyle{ z }[/math]-plane the parabola with equation [math]\displaystyle{ \; x=-\tfrac{1}{r}z^2+r \; . }[/math]

[math]\displaystyle{ y }[/math]-[math]\displaystyle{ z }[/math]-plane the algebraic curve with the equation [math]\displaystyle{ \; z^4+r^2(y^2-z^2)=0 \; . }[/math]

Parametric representation

For parametric representation and the determination of the area

Representing the sphere by

[math]\displaystyle{ \begin{array}{cll} x &=& r \cdot \cos \theta \cdot \cos \varphi \\ y &=& r \cdot \cos \theta \cdot \sin \varphi \\ z &=& r \cdot \sin \theta \qquad \qquad -\tfrac{\pi}{2}\le\theta\le\tfrac{\pi}{2}\ , \ -\pi\le\varphi\le \pi \; , \end{array} }[/math]

and setting [math]\displaystyle{ \; \varphi=\theta, \; }[/math] yields the curve

• [math]\displaystyle{ \begin{array}{cll} x &=& r \cdot \cos \theta \cdot \cos \theta \\ y &=& r \cdot \cos \theta \cdot \sin \theta \\ z &=& r \cdot \sin \theta \qquad \qquad -\tfrac{\pi}{2}\le\theta\le\tfrac{\pi}{2}\ . \end{array} }[/math]

One easily checks, that the spherical curve fulfills the equation of the cylinder. But the boundaries allow only the red part (see diagram) of Viviani's curve. The missing second half (green) has the property [math]\displaystyle{ \; \color{green}\varphi=-\theta \; . }[/math]

With help of this parametric representation it is easy to proof the statement: The area of the half sphere (containing Viviani's curve) minus the area of the two windows is [math]\displaystyle{ 4r^2 }[/math]:

Squaring

The area of the upper right part of Viviani's window (see diagram) can be calculated by an integration:

[math]\displaystyle{ \iint_{S_{sphere}} r^2 \cos\theta \,\mathrm{d}\theta \mathrm{d}\varphi =r^2 \int_0^{\pi/2} \int_0^\theta \cos\theta \,\mathrm{d}\varphi \mathrm{d}\theta= r^2(\frac{\pi}{2}-1)\ . }[/math]

Hence the total area of the spherical surface included by Viviani's curve is [math]\displaystyle{ 2\pi r^2-4r^2 }[/math] and

• the area of the half sphere ([math]\displaystyle{ 2\pi r^2 }[/math]) minus the area of Viviani's window is [math]\displaystyle{ \; 4r^2\; }[/math], the area of a square with the sphere's diameter as the length of an edge.

Relation to other curves

• The 8-shaped elevation (see above) is a Lemniscate of Gerono.
• Viviani' curve is a special Clelia curve. For a Clelia curve the relation between the angles is [math]\displaystyle{ \; \varphi=c\;\theta \;. }[/math]

Viviani's curve (red) as intersection of the sphere and a cone (pink)

Subtracting 2× the cylinder equation from the sphere's equation and applying completing the square leads to the equation

[math]\displaystyle{ (x-r)^2+y^2=z^2\; , }[/math]

which describes a right circular cone with its apex at [math]\displaystyle{ \;(r,0,0)\; }[/math], the double point of Viviani's curve. Hence

• Viviani's curve can be considered not only as the intersection curve of a sphere and a cylinder but also as

a) the intersection of a sphere and a cone and as

b) the intersection of a cylinder and a cone.

See also

• Sphere-cylinder intersection

External links

• Berger, Marcel: Geometry. II. Translated from the French by M. Cole and S. Levy. Universitext. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1987.
• Berger, Marcel: Geometry. I. Translated from the French by M. Cole and S. Levy. Universitext. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1987. xiv+428 pp. ISBN:3-540-11658-3
• Hazewinkel, Michiel, ed. (2001), "Viviani curve", Encyclopedia of Mathematics, Springer Science+Business Media B.V. / Kluwer Academic Publishers, ISBN 978-1-55608-010-4, https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Viviani_curve 
• Weisstein, Eric W.. "Viviani's Curve". http://mathworld.wolfram.com/VivianisCurve.html.