Image: Comparison catenary parabola
![Comparison catenary parabola](/images/thumb/7/77/Comparison_catenary_parabola.svg/512px-Comparison_catenary_parabola.svg.png)
Description: Comparison of a catenary (black dotted curve) and a parabola (red solid curve) with the same span and sag. The catenary represents the profile of a simple suspension bridge, or the cable of a suspended-deck suspension bridge on which its deck and hangers have negligible mass compared to its cable. The parabola represents the profile of the cable of a suspended-deck suspension bridge on which its cable and hangers have negligible mass compared to its deck. The profile of the cable of a real suspension bridge with the same span and sag will lie between the two curves. The catenary and parabola equations, plotted between x=-1 and x=1, are y = cosh x {\displaystyle y={\text{cosh }}x} and y = x 2 [ ( cosh 1 ) − 1 ] + 1 {\displaystyle y=x^{2}[({\text{cosh }}1)-1]+1} , respectively.
Title: Comparison catenary parabola
Credit: Own work
Author: Cmglee
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Attribution Required?: Yes
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