Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
6-28-12
Abstract:
This paper presents a numeric method for determining the temporal, spatial, and
gravitational distortions experienced as one approaches the event horizon of a nonspinning black hole in a way not requiring a high level of mathematical understanding. A
computer program using this numeric method is presented that simulates these distortions
and is used to determine the location of the event horizon. Explanations of the simulation
results are given to help the reader visualize the curved space-time geometry in this
vicinity.
Introduction:
Black Holes have always been a subject of fascination to me. The concept of an event
horizon surrounding the black hole from within nothing can escape, not even light, has
been most mystifying. My search for explanations of the physics of the event horizon has
been long and difficult. Why light could not travel the 1mm from inside the event
horizon to the outside was a continuing mystery to me. The two most enjoyable books
Ive read on the subject were Black Holes and Time Warps by Kip Thorne and Relativity
Visualized by Lewis Epstein. The one missing concept, allowing me to reach a certain
level of understanding, came from Lewiss book for which I am greatly appreciative.
Both books are good reads for the science enthusiast.
This paper is intended for persons intrigued by the subject, with some understanding of
high school physics, geometry, trigonometry, and with the ability to work with
mathematical equations. An understanding of calculus and associated higher level
mathematics is not required. All equations used in the paper are derived. Short tutorials
on math concepts used are given in the Appendices. Most concepts are also visually
illustrated to augment the math. Hopefully, this paper will improve ones understanding
and give some insight to what happens in the vicinity of a black hole.
Overview:
The paper starts out with a quick review of Newtonian Mechanics and discusses the
conditions it is based upon. The concept of curved space is then introduced using
embedding diagrams; and the overlaying of a non-distorted coordinate system is
discussed to facilitate movement within the fabric of curved space. The paper goes on to
show what gravity does to light and its consequences on time. A graphical method is
introduced to translate space and time between distorted local and non-distorted reference
frames such as those experienced close to the black hole and what we experience being
sufficiently distant from its gravitational influence. This is used to show how distorted
time also distorts space and to compute the magnitude of the space distortion. A method
is then developed to calculate the distortion of gravity experienced locally. A graphical
concept is introduced to visualize the presence of an event horizon and describes why one
encounters the horizon before reaching the black hole. An algorithm is then presented to
1
calculate the temporal, spatial, and gravitational distortions as one journeys toward the
event horizon; and is used in conjunction with a computer program to simulate the
location of the event horizon. A table of data showing simulation results is given with
some comments as to what is happening. A conceptual method of making measurements,
both from a distance and locally, is discussed to measure the three distortions
independently. And lastly, some terminology is described along with some
characteristics associated with black holes. Hopefully this paper will be inspiring and
lead to further pursuits on the subject.
Embedding Diagrams:
An embedding diagram is a tool invented by physicist to graphically illustrate the
curvature of space as described by Einsteins equations of General Relativity. To
describe the curvature of one-dimensional space, one needs two dimensions. For twodimensional space, one needs three dimensions. And likewise, one needs four
dimensions to describe the curvature of three-dimensional space. I, for one, cant
visualize a four-dimensional diagram and, like others, use a three-dimensional embedding
diagram to visualize the curvature of a two-dimensional slice of three-dimensional space.
The following is an example of an embedding diagram for a black hole:
Schwarzschild Coordinates:
In the context of black holes where there is spherical symmetry, a non-distorted polar
coordinate system is overlaid on top of its embedding diagram to provide spatial
reference coordinates that is unaffected by the distortions caused by gravity. The position
of a point can then be represented in terms of this coordinate system referred to as
Schwarzschild coordinates. Later, we will make use of Schwarzschild coordinates to
facilitate our calculations for moving to the next point in our journey toward the event
horizon. From earth (neglecting distortions caused by earths gravity), we view the black
hole as measured in the Schwarzschild Coordinate system.
3
Before we can begin our journey toward the black hole we need to know how to compute
the distortions of time, space, and gravity.
Temporal Distortion:
The following concept is presented by Lewis Epstein in his book Relativity Visualized:
Albert Einstein showed that energy and mass have equivalence with his famous formula:
(3)
This being the case, light (a form of energy) must fall in a gravitational field just as
matter does:
The fractional slowdown in time from the upper to the lower portion of the light beam
can be stated as:
(4)
where: h is sufficiently small so that g can be considered constant over the distance h.
In a sense, the lower arc inherits a fraction of the upper arcs time rate. One can now see
that one consequence of gravity is the distortion of time. As one descends closer to the
black hole, the time rate will continually slow down. The total slow down at some point
from the black hole would be the cumulative effect of the slowdown in each little
segment in height calculated using eq (4) from a sufficiently distant point to the local
point in question and would be represented by:
Translation of Coordinates:
We now know how to compute the distortion of time. To compute the distortion of
space, I made use of a graphical technique that Lewis Epstein introduced in his book
Relativity Visualized for translating space and time between two moving (nonaccelerating) reference frames. His technique makes use of space-time diagrams, one for
each reference frame. Each diagram displays time orthogonal to space (time on the yaxis and space on the x-axis). He then rotates one diagram and superimposes it onto the
other. In this way, one can project time and distance from one reference frame to the
other in order to translate between the two reference frames.
It is my belief that the same concept can be used for accelerating reference frames (one
cannot tell the difference between a stationary reference frame in a gravitational field and
one that is truly accelerating). The idea is: it makes no difference what your reference
frame is (whether stationary, moving, or accelerating), time will always be orthogonal to
space in your reference frame. This being the case, one needs to rotate one reference
frame with respect to the other in order to translate time and space between the two.
Since we have already calculated the distortion of time, we can rotate one reference
frame in order to project time in a manner that matches this distortion. Once done, the
distortion of space can then be determined.
This technique can also be used with three-dimensional space-time diagrams one axis
for time and two for space (for a black hole the space dimensions in the radial and
tangential directions) as shown:
In this example, the Schwarzschild space-time axes are represented by rS and tS and the
local space-time axes are represented by rL and tL. The local space-time axes are also
rotated by angle . If, for example, we want to know how much the Schwarzschild clock
advances in one of the local seconds TL, we would project TL perpendicularly from the
local time axis onto the Schwarzschild time axis, as shown, to get TS. We could also
start with one second from the Schwarzschild time axis and project onto the local time
axis as long as the projection is perpendicular to the local time axis. The ratio TL/TS
represents the time distortion for the local reference frame.
For example: in 1 second of our time (Schwarzschild coordinates), the local clock would
advance by say 0.7 seconds. The slower the local clock runs, the more its space-time
axes would need to be rotated. If the local clock were to stop (what happens at the event
horizon), its space-time axes would need to be rotated 90 degrees. If one knows what the
time distortion is by calculation, one can rotate the local space-time axes to match this
distortion.
Once properly rotated, the radial distortion can be determined. Some arbitrary distance
RS (Schwarzschild coordinates) can be projected perpendicularly from the Schwarzschild
space axis onto the local space axis, as shown, to get RL. Note that this space projection
is perpendicular to the Schwarzschild axis whereas the time projection is perpendicular to
the local axis. This is because time slows down in the gravitational field whereas the
radial distance is stretched. The projection RL represents what would be measured in the
local reference frame corresponding to RS measured in the Schwarzschild reference
frame. The ratio RL/RS would then represent the distortion of the local radial distance.
Since the triangle represented by TS and TL have the same angles as the triangle
represented by RS and RL, they are similar triangles. Consequently, the following
relationship holds and represents the radial distortion:
(5)
If we were to measure 100 km of radial distance from the point represented by the local
reference frame to the center of the black hole, a local observer at that point would
measure say 140 km to the center. One can now see that the distortion of time also
results in the distortion of spatial distance in the radial direction. Radial distance locally
is stretched by the effects of slow time.
Distortion of Gravity:
In order to calculate the distortion of gravity, we need an equation for gravity that is
temporally consistent (parameters measured are in the same temporal reference frame)
and applicable for the local reference frame. We know that the acceleration a of an
object can be approximated by V/t (change in velocity per small change in time). If
one assumes a circular orbit of an object around a gravitating body (lets keep it simple),
then one can represent the velocity of the object at a moment in time using a vector V that
is always perpendicular to the radius R of the orbit:
or
For an object in a circular orbit with no drag and no thrust, the acceleration a of the
object is in balance with the gravitational acceleration g. Therefore:
(6)
We can calculate the expected gravity for some point close to the black hole using eq (2),
but for those unfortunate enough to be at that point, the distortions of time and radial
distances cause a higher gravitational experience. A local observer measures a smaller
orbital period because his clock runs slower. His measurement of the circumference is
the same as ours, but his calculation of the orbital velocity based on those measurements
will be higher. The local observer will also measure a greater orbital radius than what we
8
measure and that will help offset the increase experienced. However, V still goes up
faster than R and the local gravity experienced GL will be higher than the gravity GS
calculated in Schwarzschild coordinates. The gravitational distortion is represented by:
Distortion Factors:
One needs to use eq (4) repeatedly in conjunction with local radial distance and gravity to
inch worm their way down through many local points toward the black hole to determine
the profile of temporal, radial, and gravitational distortions. When applying eq (4), it is
important to use h and g based on the local reference frame.
To facilitate the journey, we need to calculate time, radius, and gravity distortion factors
for each point on the journey toward the black hole. If we define a distortion factor for
the point as df = TL/TS and distortion factors for time, radius, and gravity as:
it becomes clear that dft is the same as df. From eq (5), it is also clear that dfr is the
reciprocal of df. The gravitational distortion can be determined using eq (6). Since V
has units of meters per second and the circumferential distance is not distorted, the
distortion of time results in V distorted by 1/df. Since R is also distorted by 1/df, the
total distortion of gravity must be (1/df) / (1/df) or just 1/df. The distortion factors for
time, radius, and gravity can, therefore, be summarized as follows:
(7)
(8)
(9)
For the start point, RS is set to the start radius (from the black hole). This radius and the
black hole mass are used with eq (2) to compute GS. (RL, GL) are set to (RS, GS) and
df is set to 1.
There is a concept of current point and next point. Current point data is used to
compute the distortion factor for the next point in the downward journey. The segment
height h (local distance to the next point) is calculated based on a very small fraction of
the current point RL. The next point df is computed based the current point df, the
height h, and the current point gravity GL, using eq (4):
dfnext = dfcur * (1 - GL*h / c)
(10)
The next point (RS, GS) and (RL, GL) are then calculated in the order shown:
RSnext = RScur h*dfcur
GSnext = G*M / RSnext2
(11)
(12)
(13)
(14)
Next in the journey is to move to the next point and make it the current point and repeat
the calculations described above.
One comment to make is: this is a numerical method and inherently has some error.
However, if the segment height is kept small, this error can be kept proportionally small.
Constants used in the following program are:
Gravitational constant G:
One Solar Mass (our Sun):
Earths surface gravity:
Speed of light c:
12
Simulation:
A C-program was written to simulate the above methodology and is listed here:
/*************************************** black_hole.c *********************************
*
* This program computes the distortion factor, and radial distance and gravity in both
* Schwarzschild and local coordinates for each point as one makes a journey from a
* distant start point (where gravitational distortions are negligible) towards the
* black hole. One enters a start radius and the solar mass of the black hole. The
* program then computes the gravity at the start point, the location of the next point
* closer to the black hole, the distortion factor and Schwarzschild parameters for that
* point, and from these parameters, computes the local parameters:
*
*
df
distortion factor for the point.
*
*
(RS, GS)
radial distance to the black hole, and gravity in Schwarzschild
*
coordinates (Newtonian Laws of Gravity apply).
*
*
(RL, GL)
radial distance to the black hole, and gravity in local
*
coordinates.
*
*
RL = RS / df (RL and RS are in meters)
*
GL = GS / df (GL and GS are in meters/sec^2 internally for calculations)
*
* Input Units:
*
*
Mass is normalized to solar masses.
*
Distance is in meters.
*
* Output Units:
*
*
Gravity output is normalized to earth's 1g of gravity (9.7536m/sec^2)
*
Local time rate expressed as a fraction of our time rate.
*
* From the current point, the program determines the distance to the next point based
* on a fraction of the current point's local radial distance to the black hole and then
* computes the parameters for that point
*
* by Gerry Reynolds
*
* Revision 1.0
June 19, 2009
*
2.0
Aug
21, 2009 Changed program input to start radius and mass of
*
black hole.
*
3.0
Aug
27, 2009 Changed program to print results more often when close
*
to the event horizon.
*
4.0
April 29, 2012 Changed semantics to track those in the new document.
*
Changed the way Schwarzschild gravity is computed.
*
Changed the intervals between output of point data.
*
Add ability to print results for a specified radius.
*
**************************************************************************************/
#include <stdio.h>
#include <math.h>
int main(argc,argv)
int argc;
char *argv[];
{
int
p;
double
c,
G,
Msun,
Mblackhole,
RS_print,
Rfract,
/*
/*
/*
/*
/*
/*
/*
/*
13
*/
*/
*/
*/
*/
*/
*/
*/
h,
FILE
dfcur,
dfnext,
/*
/*
/*
/*
*/
*/
*/
*/
RScur,
RSnext,
RLcur,
RLnext,
/*
/*
/*
/*
*/
*/
*/
*/
GScur,
GSnext,
GLcur,
GLnext;
/*
/*
/*
/*
Schwarzschild
Schwarzschild
Local gravity
Local gravity
*/
*/
*/
*/
*f;
f = fopen("blkhole_out.txt","w");
c
G
Msun
RS_print
Rfract
printf
scanf
printf
scanf
=
=
=
=
=
*/
299792458.0;
6.6726e-11;
1.9890e30;
4430;
0.0000001;
/* Radius to be printed */
= RScur;
= GScur;
/* Convert to kg) */
/* Compute gravity at start point */
/* Start point is Newtonian */
=
=
=
=
Gravity(L) #
RScur-h*dfcur;
G*Mblackhole/(RSnext*RSnext);
RSnext/dfnext;
GSnext/dfnext;
*/
*/
*/
*/
14
dfcur
RScur
RLcur
GScur
GLcur
=
=
=
=
=
dfnext;
RSnext;
RLnext;
GSnext;
GLnext;
}
fclose (f);
}
Radius(S)
50000000000
Gravity(S) #
0 #
Radius(L)
50000000000
8000000
9000000
10000000
11000000
#
#
#
#
22466449554
20328484105
18393972978
16643554934
0
0
0
0
#
#
#
#
22466450367
20328484981
18393973912
16643555919
0
0
0
0
#
#
#
#
1.0000000
1.0000000
0.9999999
0.9999999
162300000
162310000
162320000
162330000
162340000
162350000
162360000
162370000
162380000
162390000
162391332
162400000
162410000
162420000
162430000
162440000
162450000
162460000
162470000
162480000
162490000
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
4471
4466
4462
4457
4453
4448
4444
4439
4435
4431
4430
4426
4422
4417
4413
4408
4404
4400
4395
4391
4387
680807646956
682170624841
683536331411
684904772127
686275952463
687649877904
689026553945
690405986095
691788179869
693173140797
693357826730
694560874419
695951386286
697344681960
698740767013
700139647031
701541327608
702945814352
704353112881
705763228823
707176167819
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
7674
7674
7674
7674
7673
7673
7673
7673
7673
7673
7673
7673
7673
7673
7673
7673
7673
7674
7674
7674
7674
1168632074580
1172113565334
1175608815692
1179117903587
1182640907575
1186177906844
1189728981221
1193294211177
1196873677833
1200467462972
1200947240201
1204075649039
1207698319155
1211335557120
1214987447420
1218654075238
1222335526459
1226031887678
1229743246206
1233469690084
1237211308083
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
0.5825680
0.5820005
0.5814318
0.5808620
0.5802911
0.5797190
0.5791458
0.5785715
0.5779960
0.5774193
0.5773425
0.5768416
0.5762626
0.5756825
0.5751012
0.5745188
0.5739352
0.5733504
0.5727644
0.5721772
0.5715888
166444900
166445000
166445100
166445200
166445300
166445400
166445500
166445600
166445700
166445800
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
2954
2954
2954
2954
2954
2954
2953
2953
2953
2953
1559717276730
1559748471389
1559779666672
1559810862579
1559842059110
1559873256265
1559904454043
1559935652446
1559966851473
1559998051123
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
303185
320532
341244
366571
398528
440625
499680
591334
763626
1322649
160101160505642
169266442880101
180209268641565
193590082539234
210473287516624
232712824254234
263910193727867
312327419889390
403339810827230
698631351692184
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
0.0097421
0.0092148
0.0086554
0.0080573
0.0074111
0.0067030
0.0059107
0.0049946
0.0038676
0.0022329
Several things to note: These are simulation results for a 1 solar mass black hole. The
gravity in the results is normalized to earths gravity and expressed in gs. While the
program computed over 166 million points, it only prints the results once every 1,000,000
points until closer to the event horizon, then every 10,000, and then every 100 points as
the arrival at the event horizon becomes imminent. I manually truncated most of the data
in the uninteresting regions, hence the gaps. The program also printed the results for
RS=4430 meters for use in example 2 below.
The following graph shows how local gravity compares to Schwarzschild gravity:
15
gravity (g)
1E+15
Local Gravity
Schwarzschild
Gravity
1E+14
1E+13
1/R^2
1E+12
1E+11
1E+10
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
RS (meters)
From this diagram, it can be seen that at some point the local radius will start increasing
as the radius in Schwarzschild coordinates gets smaller.
The exact solution to Einsteins field equation for the Schwarzschild radius as stated in
the literature is:
(15)
where: G = 6.6726 * 10-11 meters3/ (kilograms-sec2)
M = 1.989 * 1030 kilograms (1 solar mass for our case)
c = 299792458 meters/sec
From this equation, one can see that the theoretical Schwarzschild radius is 2953 meters
per solar mass in perfect agreement with the simulation.
measured circumference. But, how does a local observer measure this radius in local
coordinates? One way might be to add a second light pipe surrounding the black hole,
but located say one meter closer, in local coordinates, to the black hole then the first pipe.
If space was flat, the circumference of the second light pipe would be 2 meters smaller
than the first pipe. The difference in the two circumferences will actually be smaller
since the radial separation in local coordinates is stretched as shown:
Example 1: As stated above, both the local and distant observer will calculate the
same circumference for the orbiting object. If the circumference is supposed to be seen
as the same in both reference frames and the speed of light is supposed to be a universal
constant, you might ask how the local observer gets the same circumference when their
clock runs slower. When we measure the speed of light in our reference frame, we
measure light that is local to our reference frame. Likewise, the local observer measures
light that is local to his reference frame. We both get the same speed of light
18
measurement. However, when we observe the speed of light traveling in their local
reference frame, we see their light moving slow just as slow as we see their time rate.
Therefore, at 4430 meters, the orbital velocity is 1.731*108 meters/sec. This velocity is
in Schwarzschild coordinates. Using the simulation results, one can determine that the
local time rate at 4430 meters is 0.5773. Using this rate to convert the orbital velocity to
local coordinates; one can see that the local observer sees an orbital velocity of 2.998*108
meters/sec and this is the speed of light.
free fall would not experience infinite gravity and would only feel the effects of tidal
forces that the radial dependencies of gravity create. Gravity pulls harder at your feet
when falling feet first than at your head thereby stretching you out. Your feet would
cross the event horizon at the speed of light but your head would not have reached this
speed yet. The magnitude of the tidal force at the horizon is inversely proportional to the
size of the black hole. Tidal forces at the horizon are much greater for stellar black holes
(those resulting from a stars death) than for galactic ones (at the center of most galaxies
and have millions to billions of solar masses). For spinning black holes, the sphere
representing the event horizon bulges out at its equator and the Schwarzschild radius at
its equator becomes larger.
Frame Dragging: This is a phenomenon associated with spinning black holes. Since
everything has to cross the event horizon at the speed of light, there is no headroom left
for any lateral motion relative to the black holes spin. Space-time, as well as any object,
being sucked into the hole will rotate with the black holes spin when crossing the
horizon.
Hawkings Radiation: Steven Hawking first realized that black holes radiate with
mathematical properties similar to thermal radiation - the smaller the black hole, the
hotter the thermal equivalent. Even though nothing can escape the event horizon, virtual
particles (predicted by quantum mechanics and observed in the lab) that pop into
existence (always as matter-antimatter pairs) close to the event horizon can sometimes
have one particle fall through the horizon while the other particle escapes. Particles that
appear close to the horizon have negative potential energy that exceeds their mass energy.
In this case, the negative potential energy dominates and the particle falling in has the
effect of reducing the mass of the black hole. To an observer on the outside, the black
hole appears to be radiating mass and energy.
Schwarzschild Radius: is the distance from the center of the black hole to the event
horizon as measured in Schwarzschild coordinates. It is the circumference of the event
horizon (18.554 km per solar mass) divided by 2 (Euclidian geometry) or 2.953 km per
solar mass. If our earth could be compressed into a black hole, it would be the size of a
golf ball.
Singularity: All matter falling into a black hole will end up at the singularity. The
singularity has infinite mass density and infinite curvature. For a non-spinning black
hole, it is a single point located at the center. For a spinning black hole, the singularity
has a toroidal shape with finite major diameter and infinitely small minor diameter
20
spinning about the center. The toroid still has infinite mass density and infinite curvature,
and its spin preserves the angular momentum of in falling material.
Spaghettification: is what happens when an in falling object reaches the point where
the tidal forces get so great that an object gets pulled apart into a long spaghetti like string
of atoms and then even the atoms get pulled apart. Tidal forces at the event horizon for a
galactic size black hole are small and a person can fall through the horizon without even
knowing it. For a stellar size black hole, the tidal forces at the event horizon will be
strong enough to result in spaghettification.
Tidal Forces: This term has origins in explaining the forces that cause our tides on
earth. It is used in two contexts one is for a body that has an orbiting satellite and the
other is for a body without an orbiting satellite. In both contexts, the forces have root in
the radial dependency of the gravitational strength of the gravitating body.
For a body with a satellite, such as the earth and its moon, a common center of mass
exists between the body and its satellite. For example, the common center of mass for the
earth and moon is somewhere between the center of mass of the earth and the center of
mass of the moon. As a result, the earth orbits the common center of mass just as the
moon does. Orbital dynamics say: the further one is from the center of mass of a
gravitating body, the slower the required orbital velocity is to maintain orbit. For
example: for a satellite in low earth orbit, the orbital velocity needs to be ~17500 mph to
maintain the circular orbit. The moon, on the other hand, has an orbital velocity of ~2300
mph. If an object at a given radius from a gravitating body has insufficient orbital
velocity, the gravitational pull toward the body dominates. If this object has excessive
velocity, the centrifugal force away from the body dominates. Since earth is orbiting
about the common center of mass of the earth and moon, only the center of mass of the
earth is in orbital balance. Points on the earths surface facing the moon have insufficient
orbital velocity and are pulled toward the common center of mass. Points on earths
surface opposite of the moon have excessive orbital velocity and are pulled away from
the common center of mass. This results in the oceans being stretched on both sides of
earth and two high tides per day instead of one.
For a non-orbiting object above a gravitating body, gravity pulls harder on the side of the
object closest to the body than the side of the object furthest away. This results in the
object being stretched in the radial direction very much like the stretching that an orbiting
body experiences.
21
Interesting Parameters:
a) Event horizon circumference is 18.554 km per solar mass.
b) Schwarzschild radius is 2.953 km per solar mass
c) At 1.5 * Schwarzschild radius, the orbital velocity locally is the speed of light.
There are no stable orbits within this distance. To enter the realm between
this point and the event horizon requires thrust to prevent crossing the event
horizon.
d) Between 3.0 and 1.5 * Schwarzschild radius, in order to lower your orbit,
retro thrust needs to be followed by forward thrust to reestablish a stable orbit.
22
Appendix A - Vectors:
Most people are familiar with numbers that describe quantities. One can say I owe them
a thousand dollars. The number 1000 is a quantity that describes how much I owe them.
However, if one is on the interstate highway between Denver and Cheyenne and says
they are going 60 mph, although this is true, it says nothing about whether one is
traveling north or south. Adding direction to the speed is added information and is much
more useful. Vectors are a way that can be used to describe ones speed on the interstate
and direction of travel. There are many formats vectors can be represented in and I will
only use one in this description that is a graphical representation of an arrow. The
length of the arrow shows magnitude (speed in the interstate example) and the direction
of the arrow shows direction. Vectors can be added and subtracted from other vectors
just like numbers can from other numbers. The following shows this graphically:
23
24
Arc length = R
For example, if the angle is a full circle (2 radians), the arc will span the entire
circumference of the circle and its length will be 2R the same as the formula for the
circumference of a circle: C = 2r. 360o is the same as 2 radians.
The arc length formula can also be used to approximate the length of the short side of an
isosceles triangle when a small angle is separating the two long sides. This is the case in
Figure 5 where we approximated V with V. As the angle gets smaller and smaller,
the length of the arc gets closer and closer to the actual length of the short side.
25