Wheel -- Help |
The graphing window displays a circle of radius a in green, its center in purple, a radial line segment of length b in cyan, and a point (a "light") at the end of that radial line segment in yellow. Set the wheel radius a and the radial setting b of the light using sliders at the bottom. Animate the rolling wheel using the [>>] key, or control its position by grabbing the θ slider, or by dragging the cursor over the graphing window with the mouse button depressed. The [<<] key resets θ to θ = 0. The value of θ, the angle of rotation, ranges from 0 to 6π if a < 1 and from 0 to the value of θ at which the center has x coordinate 6π if a > 1. Select the toggle [trace] to cause the light to leave a yellow trace and of the center of the wheel to leave a purple trace. Select the toggle [velocity vector] to display the velocity vector in red. Roll the cursor over the graphing window to create crosshairs and a readout of the cursor position.
© 2001 H. Hohn |