Math Gurus Interested In Hypocycloids, You're Not Alone

by Blitzburgh on May 13, 2008 12:03 PM EDT

I try to check to see where visitors to Curtain are coming from from time to time. One way for me to do so is by checking the Goolge searches that lead potential readers to BTSC. Lo and behold, we had a visitor just a few minutes ago from the following search:

The original logo had what word(s) next to the three hypocycloids?

For those not yet reading the site or for those who may have missed it, this discussion came up in a trivia contest held held here on Curtain awhile ago. Thanks to maryrose for the trivia questions, and to 5020, nycsteeler, SteelerMike and our resident math WIZ HinesField for the lesson.

There are others out there just as nerd-tastic as us! Steelers football, beer...and hypocycloids!

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Didn't we learn

that the logo does not contain hypocycloids. What were they called?

When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen

by 5020 on May 13, 2008 12:34 PM EDT 0 recs

special kid of hypocycloid

HinesField explained it to us in the answers post of the trivia. This is what he said:

Naturally, I had to go look this up after you mentioned the name. Just don’t ask why I already had the Famous Curves Index bookmarked. Apparently, the actual shape is a special case of a hypocycloid called an astroid.
Sorry, but I can’t give up my title of BTSC’s Resident Math Nerd without a fight.

by Blitzburgh on May 13, 2008 12:49 PM EDT up 0 recs

Technically, they are.

If you play around with some of the parameters that define the hypocycloids, you can create a pretty wide variety of shapes. One special case of it is the one on the Steelers’ logo.

There’s a whole page about it here, an interactive tool you can use to play around with the parameters here, and a bit on the history of the version that is actually the shape on the logo here.

by HinesField on May 13, 2008 1:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

resident math nerd reigns supreme :)

I tried to include your links from the triva posts you made, but it was too much of a hassle. Thanks for sharing Hines.

by Blitzburgh on May 13, 2008 1:46 PM EDT up 0 recs

So Hines,

is the logo a astroid or a hypocycloid? Or, could it be called both?

When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen

by 5020 on May 13, 2008 2:05 PM EDT up 0 recs

Technically, both.

All Steelers logos are astroids. All astroids are hypocycloids. Therefore, all Steelers logos are hypocycloids. (But not necessarily the other way around, of course.)

This has been another exciting lesson in syllogisms, courtesy of Aristotle.

by HinesField on May 13, 2008 2:14 PM EDT up 0 recs