Definition:Curvature/Parametric Form/Cartesian

Definition
Let $C$ be a curve defined by a real function which is twice differentiable. Let $C$ be embedded in a cartesian plane and defined by the parametric equations:
 * $\begin{cases} x = x \left({t}\right) \\

y = y \left({t}\right) \end{cases}$

The curvature $k$ of $C$ at a point $P = \left({x, y}\right)$ is given by:


 * $k = \dfrac {x' y - y' x} {\left({x'^2 + y'^2}\right)^{3/2} }$

where:
 * $x' = \dfrac {\mathrm d x} {\mathrm d t}$ is the derivative of $x$ $t$ at $P$
 * $y' = \dfrac {\mathrm d y} {\mathrm d t}$ is the derivative of $y$ $t$ at $P$
 * $x$ and $y$ are the second derivatives of $x$ and $y$ $t$ at $P$.

Also see

 * Equivalence of Definitions of Curvature