Talk:Locus (mathematics)

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For example, a line is the locus of points equidistant from two fixed points. ? --Abdull 17:37, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Yes. Doctormatt 18:32, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

You would think that would form a plane, at least in 3 dimensional space 14:58, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes: in 2D, a line; in 3D a plane. -- Doctormatt 19:09, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] definition issue

There appears to be two definitions of locus floating about.

One talks about the locus of a point: It seems to imply that the locus of a point is the path taken by the point when it moves in some (usually constrained) manner.

The other (in this article) says that a locus is a set of points. Specifically, that set of all possible points that satisfy the constraint.

While the outcome may similar, these seem very different to me, at least in a strict mathematical sense. To a novice first seeing this, the two models will seem quite different. In the first we think of a point moving about, and it's locus is an attribute of that one point. In the other we must start by explaining that the plane is composed of an infinity of points packed into a sheet. The locus then somehow selects the candidate set of points that satisfy the criteria and chucks the rest.

Which one? I prefer the locus of a single point, but I wonder what others think?

I think the two ideas are the same, though I don't know where you are seeing this "locus of a point" usage, so maybe you could point out instances of those. The locus of a point is the set of points that make up the path determined by the movement of the point. That is, the condition (or constraint) is that the points must be part of the path. Since a path is a set of points, there is no reason for confusion. (p.s. remember to sign your comments with four tildes) Doctormatt 05:23, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

Just do a Google search on "locus of a point". Here is one hit: [1] but there are many more. I do think the outcome is largely the same, but I wonder if there is one model more accepted than the rest. John.d.page 06:56, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stub?

I believe that this article is a stub. AkvoD3 (talk) 02:06, 20 November 2007 (UTC)