Spirals

Archimedes spiral

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In the Archimedes spiral, the radius from the center increases at a fixed rate as the point, P, moves around the origin. The angle θ also increases, but at a decreasing rate.

Nautilus spiral

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The equiangular or Nautilus spiral is a type of spiral that can be found in nature in such things as snail shells. The curve's radius increases at an increasing rate as the point revolves around the origin, but the angle θ always stays fixed—hence the name of the curve.

Download the worksheets here and here. Download an older Geometer's Sketchpad version of these worksheets here.

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This page © Copyright 2009 Michael Horvath. Last modified: February 21 2010 20:37:31.