Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2023/ii/paper-2/26g/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ii Paper 2 26G b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
If , then , so the unit tangent is constant andThus both curves are straight line segments. Equal arc length makes their parameter intervals equally long, and a rotation in followed by a translation maps one to the other. Hence they are related by a proper Euclidean motion of Euclidean three-space.
The conclusion fails for , because curvature alone does not determine a space curve. A unit circle has curvature one and torsion zero. The circular helix with ,is unit speed and has curvature one but torsion one. Proper Euclidean motions preserve torsion, so equal-length pieces of these two curves cannot be related by one.
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