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Logarithmic Spiral

Logarithmic spirals appear frequently in nature. They are self-similar curves where the distance between turns increases geometrically rather than linearly as in an Archimedean spiral. Examples include spiral galaxies, hurricanes, mollusk shells, and beaches formed by wave refraction. The golden spiral grows by a factor of the golden ratio with each quarter turn, approximating structures like sunflower heads. Natural phenomena like hawk hunting paths and insect flight to light sources also approximate logarithmic spirals.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
283 views21 pages

Logarithmic Spiral

Logarithmic spirals appear frequently in nature. They are self-similar curves where the distance between turns increases geometrically rather than linearly as in an Archimedean spiral. Examples include spiral galaxies, hurricanes, mollusk shells, and beaches formed by wave refraction. The golden spiral grows by a factor of the golden ratio with each quarter turn, approximating structures like sunflower heads. Natural phenomena like hawk hunting paths and insect flight to light sources also approximate logarithmic spirals.

Uploaded by

Singh Ashutosh
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Logarithmic spiral

Logarithmic spiral (pitch 10°)

Cutaway of a nautilus shell showing the chambers


arranged in an approximately logarithmic spiral. The
plotted spiral (dashed blue curve) is based on
growth rate parameter , resulting in a
pitch of .
Romanesco broccoli, which grows in a logarithmic
spiral

A section of the Mandelbrot set following a


logarithmic spiral
An extratropical cyclone over Iceland shows an
approximately logarithmic spiral pattern

The arms of spiral galaxies often have the shape of


a logarithmic spiral, here the Whirlpool Galaxy

Polygon spiral
A logarithmic spiral, equiangular spiral
or growth spiral is a self-similar spiral
curve which often appears in nature. The
logarithmic spiral was first described by
Descartes and later extensively
investigated by Jacob Bernoulli, who
called it Spira mirabilis, "the marvelous
spiral".

Definition
In polar coordinates the
logarithmic curve can be written as[1]

or
with being the base of natural
logarithms, and and being arbitrary
positive real constants.

In parametric form, the curve is

with real numbers and .

The spiral has the property that the angle


between the tangent and radial line at
the point is constant. This property
can be expressed in differential
geometric terms as
The derivative of is proportional to
the parameter . In other words, it
controls how "tightly" and in which
direction the spiral spirals. In the extreme
case that ( ) the spiral
becomes a circle of radius . Conversely,
in the limit that approaches infinity (
) the spiral tends toward a
straight half-line. The complement of is
called the pitch.

Spira mirabilis and Jacob


Bernoulli
Spira mirabilis, Latin for "miraculous
spiral", is another name for the
logarithmic spiral. Although this curve
had already been named by other
mathematicians, the specific name
("miraculous" or "marvelous" spiral) was
given to this curve by Jacob Bernoulli,
because he was fascinated by one of its
unique mathematical properties: the size
of the spiral increases but its shape is
unaltered with each successive curve, a
property known as self-similarity.
Possibly as a result of this unique
property, the spira mirabilis has evolved
in nature, appearing in certain growing
forms such as nautilus shells and
sunflower heads. Jacob Bernoulli wanted
such a spiral engraved on his headstone
along with the phrase "Eadem mutata
resurgo" ("Although changed, I shall arise
the same."), but, by error, an Archimedean
spiral was placed there instead.[2][3]

Properties
The logarithmic spiral can be
distinguished from the Archimedean
spiral by the fact that the distances
between the turnings of a logarithmic
spiral increase in geometric progression,
while in an Archimedean spiral these
distances are constant.

Logarithmic spirals are self-similar in that


the result of applying any similarity
transformation to the spiral is congruent
to the original untransformed spiral.
Scaling by a factor , where b is the
parameter from the definition of the
spiral, with the center of scaling at the
origin, gives the same curve as the
original; other scale factors give a curve
that is rotated from the original position
of the spiral. Logarithmic spirals are also
congruent to their own involutes,
evolutes, and the pedal curves based on
their centers.

Starting at a point and moving inward


along the spiral, one can circle the origin
an unbounded number of times without
reaching it; yet, the total distance covered
on this path is finite; that is, the limit as
goes toward is finite. This property
was first realized by Evangelista Torricelli
even before calculus had been
invented.[4] The total distance covered is
, where is the straight-line
distance from to the origin.

The exponential function exactly maps


all lines not parallel with the real or
imaginary axis in the complex plane, to
all logarithmic spirals in the complex
plane with centre at 0. (Up to adding
integer multiples of to the lines, the
mapping of all lines to all logarithmic
spirals is onto.) The pitch angle of the
logarithmic spiral is the angle between
the line and the imaginary axis.

The function , where the


constant is a complex number with a
non-zero imaginary unit, maps the real
line to a logarithmic spiral in the complex
plane.

The golden spiral is a logarithmic spiral


that grows outward by a factor of the
golden ratio for every 90 degrees of
rotation (pitch about 17.03239 degrees).
It can be approximated by a "Fibonacci
spiral", made of a sequence of quarter
circles with radii proportional to
Fibonacci numbers.
In nature
In several natural phenomena one may
find curves that are close to being
logarithmic spirals. Here follow some
examples and reasons:

The approach of a hawk to its prey in


classical pursuit, assuming the prey
travels in a straight line. Their sharpest
view is at an angle to their direction of
flight; this angle is the same as the
spiral's pitch.[5]
The approach of an insect to a light
source. They are used to having the
light source at a constant angle to their
flight path. Usually the sun (or moon
for nocturnal species) is the only light
source and flying that way will result in
a practically straight line.[6]
The arms of spiral galaxies.[7] Our own
galaxy, the Milky Way, has several
spiral arms, each of which is roughly a
logarithmic spiral with pitch of about
12 degrees.[8]
The nerves of the cornea (this is,
corneal nerves of the subepithelial
layer terminate near superficial
epithelial layer of the cornea in a
logarithmic spiral pattern).[9]
The bands of tropical cyclones, such
as hurricanes.[10]
Many biological structures including
the shells of mollusks.[11] In these
cases, the reason may be construction
from expanding similar shapes, as
shown for polygonal figures in the
accompanying graphic.
Logarithmic spiral beaches can form
as the result of wave refraction and
diffraction by the coast. Half Moon Bay
(California) is an example of such a
type of beach.[12]

See also
Archimedean spiral
Epispiral
Golden spiral
List of spirals

References
1. Priya Hemenway (2005). Divine
Proportion: Φ Phi in Art, Nature, and
Science. Sterling Publishing Co.
ISBN 978-1-4027-3522-6.
2. Livio, Mario (2002). The Golden
Ratio: The Story of Phi, The World's
Most Astonishing Number. New
York: Broadway Books. ISBN 978-0-
7679-0815-3.
3. Yates, R. C.: A Handbook on Curves
and Their Properties, J. W. Edwards
(1952), "Evolutes". p. 206.
4. Carl Benjamin Boyer (1949). The
history of the calculus and its
conceptual development . Courier
Dover Publications. p. 133.
ISBN 978-0-486-60509-8.
5. Chin, Gilbert J. (8 December 2000),
"Organismal Biology: Flying Along a
Logarithmic Spiral", Science, 290
(5498): 1857,
doi:10.1126/science.290.5498.1857
c
6. John Himmelman (2002).
Discovering Moths: Nighttime
Jewels in Your Own Backyard . Down
East Enterprise Inc. p. 63. ISBN 978-
0-89272-528-1.
7. G. Bertin and C. C. Lin (1996). Spiral
structure in galaxies: a density wave
theory . MIT Press. p. 78. ISBN 978-
0-262-02396-2.
8. David J. Darling (2004). The
universal book of mathematics: from
Abracadabra to Zeno's paradoxes .
John Wiley and Sons. p. 188.
ISBN 978-0-471-27047-8.
9. C. Q. Yu CQ and M. I. Rosenblatt,
"Transgenic corneal
neurofluorescence in mice: a new
model for in vivo investigation of
nerve structure and regeneration,"
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2007
Apr;48(4):1535-42.
10. Andrew Gray (1901). Treatise on
physics, Volume 1 . Churchill.
pp. 356–357.
11. Michael Cortie (1992). "The form,
function, and synthesis of the
molluscan shell" . In István Hargittai
and Clifford A. Pickover (ed.). Spiral
symmetry. World Scientific. p. 370.
ISBN 978-981-02-0615-4.
12. Allan Thomas Williams and Anton
Micallef (2009). Beach management:
principles and practice . Earthscan.
p. 14. ISBN 978-1-84407-435-8.
Weisstein, Eric W. "Logarithmic Spiral" .
MathWorld.
Jim Wilson, Equiangular Spiral (or
Logarithmic Spiral) and Its Related
Curves , University of Georgia (1999)
Alexander Bogomolny, Spira Mirabilis -
Wonderful Spiral , at cut-the-knot

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media


related to Logarithmic spirals.

Spira mirabilis history and math


NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:
Hurricane Isabel vs. the Whirlpool
Galaxy (25 September 2003)
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:
Typhoon Rammasun vs. the Pinwheel
Galaxy (17 May 2008)
SpiralZoom.com , an educational
website about the science of pattern
formation, spirals in nature, and spirals
in the mythic imagination.
Online exploration using JSXGraph
(JavaScript)

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