Since the brachistochrone is such a beautiful curve in our planet, I want to build one somewhere around 1.60 m high. I need a quick way to trace the curve on the material to be cut, e.g. a wide sheet of plywood.
Which is the most practical way to do this?
Can this be done as easily as tracing a quarter of a circumference or a quarter of an ellipse?
The brachistochrone is simply an upside-down cycloid. This is generated by a point on a rolling circle on a flat surface, so if you can find a fairly flat surface and get a fairly circular object of diameter about 1.60 meters....