Arc length

When rectified, the curve gives a straight line segment with the same length as the curve's arc length.
Arc length s of a logarithmic spiral as a function of its parameter θ.

Arc length is the distance between two points along a section of a curve.

Determining the length of an irregular arc segment by approximating the arc segment as connected (straight) line segments is also called curve rectification. For a rectifiable curve these approximations don't get arbitrarily large (so the curve has a finite length).

If a curve can be parameterized as an injective and continuously differentiable function (i.e., the derivative is a continuous function) , then the curve is rectifiable (i.e., it has a finite length).

The advent of infinitesimal calculus led to a general formula that provides closed-form solutions in some cases.


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