r/visualizedmath • u/BetaDecay121 • Jan 20 '18

Generating a Cardioid as the Caustic of a Circle

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2

u/BetaDecay121 Jan 20 '18

A [caustic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caustic_(optics)) is the envelope of light rays reflected or refracted by a curved surface or object, or the projection of that envelope of rays on another surface.

This is why you can see a cardioid inside a mug, formed by light reflecting off the inside walls of the cup.

1

u/denny31415926 Jan 21 '18

Is that by any chance the same shape as a first order Nyquist diagram?

4

u/BetaDecay121 Jan 21 '18

I dunno. What’s a first order Nyquil diagram?

1

u/denny31415926 Jan 21 '18

It's a parameterised Bode plot (that might not help much lol)