Re: caternary equation and three points... please explain

From: Robert Israel (israel_at_math.ubc.ca)
Date: 11/04/04 

Date: 4 Nov 2004 22:46:38 GMT

In article <2uvlq0F2fpp19U1@uni-berlin.de>, Sam <samgerhardt@xmsnx.com> wrote:
>using the caternary equation y = a * cosh( x / a) + b

That's "catenary".

>I am supposed to find the equation for the caternary that passes through the
>three points (-140, 80), (0, 30), and (140, 80). I understand the + b is
>just a vertical shift, but how do you solve for the rest?

There is no closed-form solution AFAIK, but it can be done numerically.

Robert Israel israel@math.ubc.ca
Department of Mathematics http://www.math.ubc.ca/~israel
University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada

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