Divide the velocity by the speed calculated above. The unit tangent vector is
Its derivative is
Because , the principal normal vector has the direction of , giving
This is a unit vector, and for every real . The curvature of a space curve is , so the principal normal vector is defined everywhere on this curve. The same perpendicularity follows from constant tangent component forces perpendicular principal normals: is constant, and differentiating this identity forces the normal component along to vanish.