GENERAL ARTICLE

Brachistochrone – The Path of Quickest Descent∗

Radhakrishnamurty Padyala

It is now more than three centuries since Johann Bernoulli

solved one of the most intriguing problems in the history of
the development of mathematics. Adapting Fermat’s princi-
ple of least time, applicable for the path followed by a ray
of light as it passes through a series of media with decreasing
values of refractive index, to the motion of a point mass under
the influence of gravity alone, Bernoulli solved the problem
of quickest descent of a point mass in a vertical plane from a Dr. Padyala received his PhD
point to a lower point, but not vertically below it. It is said degree from IISc Bengaluru
and worked in the Central
to be one of the most important problems in mathematics as
Electrochemical Research
it paved the way for many branches of modern mathematics, Institute, Karaikudi, till his
including calculus of variations. retirement in the year 2001.
He lives in Bengaluru now.
In this article, we discuss the historical development of His research interests are in
Bernoulli’s challenge problem, its solution, and several anec- electrochemistry,
dotes connected with the story of brachistochrone. We conclude thermodynamics, symmetry
and natural laws.
the article with an important property: the ‘tautochronous
property’ of the brachistochrone curve, discovered by Huy-
gens and used by him in making clocks. The spirit with which
the business of mathematics was transacted in the centuries
gone by is highlighted.

1. Introduction

A powerful influence was exerted on the formal development of

mechanics by a particular class of problems – the so-called iso-
metrical problems [1]. Certain questions of greatest and least Keywords
values of quantities, the questions of maxima and minima, were Brachistochrone, Fermat’s princi-
ple of least time, path of quickest
treated by Greek mathematicians. Pythagoras is said to have
descent, tautochrone.
taught that the circle, of all plane figures of a given perimeter,

∗
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-019-0771-y

RESONANCE | February 2019 201

 GENERAL ARTICLE

Figure 1. (Left) The

hero of our story, Johann
Bernoulli (1667–1748) and
( Right) his elder brother Ja-
cob Bernoulli (1655–1705).
Source:
https://alchetron.com/Johann-
Bernoulli and Wikimedia
Commons.

has the greatest area. Hero of Alexandria deduced the law of re-
flection of light from the theory that light emitted from a point A
and reflected at M on a reflecting surface XX will travel to B by
the shortest route.

Mach who is an Mach [1] who is an advocate of the economy of thought says
advocate of the economy such phenomena in Nature reveal the economy in natural pro-
of thought says that cesses. Pappus held similar notions concerning the form (shape)
phenomena in Nature
reveal the economy in of honeycomb cells constructed by bees as an effort to economize
natural processes. materials.
Pappus held similar
notions concerning the Such ideas of maxima and minima were taken up by Pierre de Fer-
form (shape) of mat (1607–1665), and Gilles Personne de Roberval (1602–1675)
honeycomb cells who developed a method applicable to such problems concerning
constructed by bees as the behaviour of light. Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) applied
an effort to economize
materials. and further perfected the ideas of Fermat, considering both recti-
linear and curvilinear motions of light. Similar maximal/minimal
properties were found in the study of mechanical phenomena.
Mach observes [1] that Kepler had already noted that at a max-
imum (or minimum) of a function, the slope changes sign, and
the tangents there are nearly parallel to the X-axis. Therefore, to
find the maximum or minimum of a function, we seek the paral-
lel tangents of its curve. This movement of maxima and minima
received its most powerful impulse from a problem posed by Jo-
hann Bernoulli (Figure 1) in June 1696 published in Acta Erudi-
torum.

202 RESONANCE | February 2019

 GENERAL ARTICLE

The maxima-minima problem paved the way for the development

of the more familiar least time principle based mechanics and
also to the variational principle and its applications – Brachis-
tochrone being one among them. Johann Bernoulli’s solution
to the problem, however, deals with a much simpler geometric
method. The method is based on the principles of travel of light.
Fermat demonstrated that light travels from one point to another
in the least time even when the path is not a straight line. In such
cases, light travels through reflections or through refractions at
points along the way.
We describe in this article the story of the path followed by a ma-
terial particle moving in a constant gravitational field, popularly
known as a ‘brachistochrone’. We describe the origin of the prob-
lem and its solution in its historical perspective. A recent article
in this journal [2] presented an overview of the variational prin-
ciple and used it to solve the problem. It also gave methods of
construction of models to test the solution.

2. Origin of Brachistochrone Problem [2–8]

Brachistochrone is basically a roulette (French for a little wheel). Brachistochrone is

In geometry, roulette is the locus of a point attached to the plane basically a roulette
(French for a little
of a closed convex curve that rolls without slipping on a friction-
wheel). In geometry,
less fixed curve or a curved surface. A large number of classical roulette is the locus of a
curves can be generated as roulettes: cycloid, tractrix, catenary, point attached to the
parabola, ellipse, etc. Of these, cycloid is of interest to us, be- plane of a closed convex
curve that rolls without
cause the brachistochrone is a cycloid.
slipping on a frictionless
The cycloid, discussed first by Charles Bouvellers in 1501, is a fixed curve or a curved
surface.
curve that was so fiercely debated among 18th-century mathe-
maticians that it was frequently called the ‘Helen of Geometers’,
for all the disputes it provoked [3]. Legend has it that Pascal had
given up mathematics to pursue theology. One day he was suffer-
ing from a severe toothache. To forget the pain and in desperation,
he began thinking about the cycloid. Quickly the toothache disap-
peared. He took it as a heavenly sign that he should proceed with
the study of the cycloid. His intense study for the next eight days

RESONANCE | February 2019 203


Figure 2. This figure
shows a cycloid. A circle
rolls along a straight line. A
point on the circumference
of the rolling circle traces
the cycloid.
Johann Bernoulli wanted
to find the path that takes
the minimum time,
compared to any other
path, for a point mass
starting from rest from a
point A to reach another
point B at a lower level
but not vertically below,
in a constant
gravitational field.
204
GENERAL ARTICLE
resulted in the discovery of most of what had already been learned
about the cycloid and several results that were new [3]. When a
circle rolls on a straight line, a point on the circumference of the
circle traces a cycloid. Figure 2 shows a cycloid.
The name brachistochrone was coined by Johann Bernoulli. The
word was derived from a combination of two Greek words –
brachistos meaning shortest and chronos meaning time. Hence,
brachistochrone means ‘the shortest time’. He so named the curve
(the geometric solution of a problem that he obtained) because of
its very interesting properties concerning time and motion.
Johann Bernoulli was a well-known French mathematician. He
came from a family of mathematicians. He thought he was the
greatest mathematician of his times [4] and in particular, supe-
rior to his elder brother, Jacob (James) Bernoulli, who too was
a well-known mathematician and a bitter rival. Johann Bernoulli
was the first to recognize the importance of the principle of vir-
tual velocities and solved many problems in mechanics. Stimu-
lated by his achievements, researchers started investigations into
the characteristics: maxima-minima. He wanted to find the path
that takes the minimum time, compared to any other path, for a
point mass starting from rest from a point A to reach another point
B at a lower level but not vertically below, in a constant gravita-
tional field. He hit upon the idea of applying Fermat’s principle of
least time applicable to light, for the path followed by the mov-
ing mass. He obtained an ingenious solution. His solution was
a trochoid – a cycloid. He called the solution curve, ‘brachis-
tochrone’. Those were the times when it was a practice among
mathematicians to pose problems challenging fellow mathemati-
RESONANCE | February 2019
 GENERAL ARTICLE

cians to solve them. Having the solution in hand, he challenged

the European mathematicians of the time with the problem, giv-
ing them six months to solve it.

3. Statement of Brachistochrone Problem

Introduction of the Problem by Johann Bernoulli [2, 5, 6]

“I, Johann Bernoulli, address the most brilliant mathematicians Nothing is more
in the world. Nothing is more attractive to intelligent people than attractive to intelligent
an honest, challenging problem, whose possible solution will be- people than an honest,
challenging problem,
stow fame and remain as a lasting monument. Following the ex- whose possible solution
ample set by Mersenne, Pascal, Fermat, etc., I hope to gain the will bestow fame and
gratitude of the whole scientific community by placing before the remain as a lasting
monument.
finest mathematicians of our time a problem upon which as upon
a touchstone could test their methods and the strength of their –Johann Bernoulli
intellect. If someone communicates to me the solution of the pro-
posed problem, I shall publicly declare him worthy of praise.”
Proclamation of the Problem
“Johann Bernoulli public professor of mathematics pays his best
respects to the most acute mathematicians of the entire world, . . .
there is scarcely anything which more greatly excites noble and
ingenious spirits to labours which lead to the increase of knowl-
edge than to propose difficult and at the same time useful prob-
lems.” The problem he posed was the following.
Given two points A and B in a vertical plane, what is the curve
traced out by a point acted on only by gravity, which starts at A
and reaches B in the shortest time?
He further asserted that, “the question proposed does not, as might Given two points A and
appear consist of mere speculation having, therefore, no use. On B in a vertical plane,
the contrary, as one would readily believe, it has great usefulness what is the curve traced
out by a point acted on
in other branches of science such as mechanics.” only by gravity, which
Leibniz in a letter to Bernoulli appears to have showered praise starts at A and reaches B
in the shortest time?
on the problem stating that it was a very beautiful and hitherto
unheard of problem, and it pleased him and attracted him by its

RESONANCE | February 2019 205

 GENERAL ARTICLE

beauty as the apple attracted Eve and persuaded to allow a longer

time till the following Easter to enable foreign mathematicians in
Italy and Egypt to have a chance to solve it [6].
Boasting about the virtues and superiority of his method, he says
“Even those distinguished men, Descartes, Fermat, and others
who once contended as vigorously for the superiority of their
methods as if they fought God and country or in their place now
their disciples, must frankly confess that the method handed down
from these same authors are here entirely inadequate” [6].
In view of the dispute over the calculus, Bernoulli included the
following statement [6]:
“. . . there are fewer who are likely to solve our excellent prob-
lems, aye, fewer even among the very mathematicians who boast
that [they]. . . have wonderfully extended its bounds by means of
the golden theorems which (they thought) were known to no one,
but which in fact had long previously been published by others.”
Five solutions were published. The May 1687 issue of Acta Eru-
ditorum contained Leibniz’s solution on page 205, Johann Bernoulli’s
solution on pages 206 to 211, Jacob Bernoulli’s solution on pages
211 to 214, and a Latin translation of Newton’s solution on page
223. The solution of de l Hopital was not published until 1988
when, nearly 300 years later, Jeanne Peiffer presented it as Ap-
pendix 1 in a paper.
Johann Bernoulli acknowledged the solvers, saying:
“. . . my elder brother made up the fourth of these, that the three
great nations, Germany, England, France, each one of their own
to unite with myself in such a beautiful search, all finding the
Johann Bernoulli was same truth.”
not the first to consider
the brachistochrone
problem. Galileo in 1638 4. Galileo’s Solution to the Brachistochrone Problem
had studied the problem
in his famous work
Galileo addressed this problem and obtained a different solution
Discourse on Two New
Sciences. (an aside).
Johann Bernoulli was not the first to consider the brachistochrone

206 RESONANCE | February 2019

 GENERAL ARTICLE

Figure 3. Galileo’s ver-

sion of the brachistochrone
(quickest descent) problem.

problem. Galileo in 1638 had studied the problem in his famous

work Discourse on Two New Sciences. His version of the prob-
lem was first to find the straight line from a point A on an inclined
plane to a point on a vertical line which it would reach the quick-
est. He correctly calculated that such a line from A to the vertical
line would be at an angle of 45o reaching the required vertical line
at B (see Figure 3). Next, he took up the problem of motion along
a chord of a circle AB with one end, say, B being an extremity of
the vertical diameter of the circle (Figure 3).
He proved that the time along two chords AC, CB, where C is
any point on the quadrant AB of a circle, is less than the time
along the single chord AB. As we increase the number of chords
by choosing more points on the arc, time of travel becomes lesser
and in the limit of the number of chords tending to infinity, the
time becomes the least.
Therefore, he concluded that the quickest path is that along the Galileo concluded that
arc of a circle with one of its ends being the endpoint of a vertical the quickest path is that
along the arc of a circle
diameter of a circle. Galileo, in his letter to his friend Guidobaldo
with one of its ends
del Monte on 29 November 1602, described the descent of heavy being the endpoint of a
bodies along the arcs of circles and the chords subtended by them. vertical diameter of a
circle.

5. Newton’s Solution to the Brachistochrone Problem

The story goes that Newton was in the midst of the hurry of the
great recoinage, and did not return home till four in the evening

RESONANCE | February 2019 207

 GENERAL ARTICLE

from the Royal Mint (Tower). He was very much tired that day.
But he was restless to solve the challenge problem posed by Jo-
hann Bernoulli. He worked on it till late in the night and solved
it by four in the morning. He sent the solution to Charles Mon-
tague, the Earl of Halifax, who was an innovative finance minister
and the founder of the Bank of England. Montague was the prin-
cipal patron and lifelong friend of Newton and, in addition, the
‘common-law’ husband of Newton’s niece. He was President of
the Royal Society during 1695–1698.

This solution of Johann So it was natural that Newton sent him his solution to the brachis-
Bernoulli’s, achieved tochrone problem. The Royal Society published Newton’s solu-
entirely without a
tion in the January 1697 issue of Philosophical Transactions, a
method, the outcome of
pure geometrical fancy journal at that time. The article was published anonymously.
and skillful use of such
On seeing the solution, Bernoulli is said to have remarked, “I
knowledge as happened
to be at his command, is recognize the lion by its claw.”
one of the most
Huygens, Leibniz, l Hopital, and Jacob Bernoulli also solved the
remarkable and beautiful
performances in the problem, and their solutions were published along with that of
history of physical Newton. But Johann Bernoulli’s solution is the most famous
science. of all. Mach writes [1], “This solution of Johann Bernoulli’s,
achieved entirely without a method, the outcome of pure geomet-
– Mach
rical fancy and skillful use of such knowledge as happened to be
at his command, is one of the most remarkable and beautiful per-
formances in the history of physical science.”

6. Jocob Bernoulli’s Solution to the Brachistochrone Prob-

lem

Mach adds [1], “Jacob Bernoulli solved this problem, though in

less felicitous form. But on the other hand, he did not fail to
develop, with great thoroughness, a general method applicable to
such problems. Thus, in these two brothers we find the two funda-
mental traits of high scientific talent separated from one another
– traits, which in the very greatest natural inquirers, in Newton,
for example are combined.”
To cut the long story short, we simply mention the principles in-

208 RESONANCE | February 2019

 GENERAL ARTICLE

volved in Jacob Bernoulli’s solution. The conventional calculus

methods do not apply here. Instead of finding a point (maximum
or minimum) among points on a curve, we have to find a curve
among several curves.

• If a curve has a certain property of the maxima or minima of

a quantity, every portion or element of the curve has the same
property.

• Just as the infinitely adjacent values of the maxima or minima of

a quantity in the ordinary problems, for infinitely small changes
of the independent variables, are constant, so also is the quantity
here to be made a maximum or minimum for the curve sought,
for infinitely contiguous curves, constant.

• It is finally assumed, for the case of the brachistochrone, that the

√
velocity is v = 2gh, where h denotes the height fallen through.

Jacob Bernoulli, in accordance with the practice then prevail-

ing among mathematicians, proposed the following more general
‘isometrical problem’.
Of all the isoperimetrical curves1 between the same two fixed 1 Curves of equal perimeters or

points, to find the curve, such that the space included (1) by a equal lengths.

second curve, each of whose ordinates is a given function of the

corresponding arc of the one sought, (2) by the ordinates of its ex-
treme points, and (3) by the part of the axis of the abscissa lying
between those ordinates, shall be a maximum or minimum. For
more details see [3].

7. Johann Bernoulli’s Solution to the Brachistochrone Prob-

lem

Finally, let us see now how Johann Bernoulli solved the brachis-
tochrone problem. The analogy here is with the refraction of light
in a medium of continuously varying refractive index with the
depth, where light takes the least time from one to another point
– this making it more important and interesting.

RESONANCE | February 2019 209


Figure 4. Path of light ray
passing through a series of
media with different values
of refractive index.
2 In brachistochrone problem,
we insist the lower point B be
the lowest point on the path so
that the time of travel is a min-
imum. It is not clear to me,
how then the analogy with the
path of light on which no such
condition is imposed is valid for
the motion of a mass in constant
gravitational fields.
210
GENERAL ARTICLE
Johann Bernoulli said to himself: “If nature works such that mo-
tion of light is governed by Fermat’s least time principle, would it
involve another law to govern the motion of heavy bodies? Very
unlikely, in view of the fact that Nature economizes the principles
it employs in its operations! Therefore, in all likelihood, there is a
good chance that the least time principle applies to the motion of
heavy bodies”. With this in mind, he imagined a light ray passing
from a point A in medium 1, through an infinite sequence of hori-
zontal differentially thin optical media of decreasing optical den-
sity to a point B2 (see Figure 4). As it travels, its speed increases
continuously because of the increasing angle of refraction.
Bernoulli recognized the similarity between the continuously in-
creasing speed of light ray and the increasing speed of a heavy
mass falling in a uniform gravitational field. Therefore, he argued
that by following a law similar to that followed by a refracting
light ray, the falling mass must take minimum time. He substi-
tutes for the speed of light, v, in Snell’s law, the speed v acquired
by a falling mass in a uniform gravitational field. The latter could
easily be obtained by applying the law of conservation of energy
which states that the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy of
a falling mass must remain constant. In particular, if the falling
mass starts from rest, then the sum must be zero for each point
along the path. The proof is simple and elegant, combining fields
of geometry and physics.
RESONANCE | February 2019
 GENERAL ARTICLE

Figure 5. ACEB is a
brachistochrone. A small
segment CE on it may be
considered a straight line.
The point mass rolls along
ACB. Point B on the circle
traces ACBB as the circle
rolls along the straight line
AB1 . A B is a circular arc.
It is the Galileo’s solution
for the quickest path to reach
B.
Imagine a vertical plane. Consider two points A, B (see Figure
4). A is above B but not on the same vertical. Refractive index,
n decreases linearly with depth. With these constraints, the speed
of light keeps on increasing as it goes from A to B. The ray bends
away from the normal (the vertical) as it refracts.
In the case under consideration, we have a series of N horizon-
tal layers separated by horizontal lines [7]. The jth layer has a
refractive index, nj , j = 1, 2, . . . . N, get, a series of continuous
refractions since refractive index changes continuously along the
path of the ray. The angle of refraction of any of the interme-
diate refractions is equal to the angle of incidence for the next
refraction (see Figure 4).

sin ij sin rj+1

= = k, rj = ij+1 (1)
vj vj+1

We can obtain an equation for the speed v, in terms of height of

fall using the law of conservation of energy. We follow Erlich-
son’s treatment [8] in deriving Bernoulli’s solution for the path of
quickest descent (ACB in Figure 5) – the brachistochrone. Ap-
plying conservation of energy to the falling mass, we get,

1 2
mv + mgx = 0, or v2 = −2gx = (costant.x) = a.x. (2)
2
Note, x denotes the height of fall from rest at A and y denotes the

RESONANCE | February 2019 211

 GENERAL ARTICLE

Figure 6. Christiaan
Huygens (1629–1695).
Source:
Wikimedia Commons.

distance along the horizontal axis.

Considering the differential triangle CDE (containing the angle
of refraction DCE) shown in Figure 5, we find that (dy/ds) = sin
r = kv = (v/a), where k = (1/a) is the Bernoulli’s constant, ds is a
small path length given by the equation,


CE = CD2 + DE 2 . (3)

 
ds = dx2 + dy2 therefore dy = kv dx2 + dy2 . (4)

vdx
dy = √ . (5)
a2 − v2

This is the differential equation of the brachistochrone.

From (2), (4) and (5) we get:

√ 
ax x x
dy = √ dx = dx = √ dx . (6)
a2 − ax a−x ax − x2

1 √ adx
Adding and subtracting 2 ax−x2 to the RHS, we get

212 RESONANCE | February 2019

 GENERAL ARTICLE


x 1 adx 1 adx − 2xdx
dx = √ − √ . (7)
a−x 2 ax − x2 2 ax − x2

Integrating, we get


−1 x  2
y = a sin − a − x2 . (8)
a

To show that this is a cycloid, we can write for x, the trigonomet-

ric function:

1
x= a(1 − cos θ) , (9)
2
which gives

   
1 1 1
y = a sin−1 sin θ − a sin θ (1 + cos θ), (10)
2 2 2

1 1
y= aθ − a sin θ. (11)
2 2

a
Writing = r, We get x = r(1 − cos θ), (12)
2

y = r(θ − sin θ). (13)

Equations (12) and (13) give the standard form of the cycloid
generated by a circle of radius, r, rolling without slipping, along
a straight line. This is the result of the most famous problem of
brachistochrone.
He ended his solution of the brachistochrone problem with these
words [6]:
“Before I conclude, I cannot refrain from again expressing the
amazement which I experienced over the unexpected identity of
Huygens’s tautochrone and our brachistochrone. Furthermore, I
think it is noteworthy that this identity is found only under the

RESONANCE | February 2019 213

 GENERAL ARTICLE

hypothesis of Galileo so that even from this we may conjecture

that Nature wanted it to be thus. For, as Nature is accustomed to
proceed always in the simplest-fashion, so here she accomplishes
two different services through one and the same curve, while un-
der every other hypothesis two curves would be necessary the one
for oscillations of equal duration the other for quickest descent.”
He triumphantly declared: “In this way I have solved at one stroke
two important problems – an optical and a mechanical one – and
have achieved more than I demanded from others: I have shown
that the two problems, taken from entirely separate fields of math-
ematics, have the same character.”

8. Brachistochrone is a Tautochrone [9]

Before ending the article, we touch upon a very important prop-

erty – the ‘tautochronous property’ – of brachistochrone. It was
discovered by Huygens.

Brachistochrone is Brachistochrone is tautochronus. It means that the falling time

tautochronus. It means from any point on the curve to the lowest point on the curve is the
that the falling time from
same. This property imparts to the path, the characteristic that
any point on the curve to
the lowest point on the the time of travel to the lowest point of the path, starting from
curve is the same. This rest from any point on the path is the same. Christiaan Huygens
property imparts to the (1629–1695) (Figure 6) discovered the tautochronous property of
path, the characteristic brachistochrone. Without using any calculus, he showed that a
that the time of travel to
the lowest point of the cycloid is its own evolute. It means the following. Consider a
path, starting from rest point mass attached to the end, I of a cord (see Figure 7). The
from any point on the other end of the cord is attached to the fixed point B of the cuspoid
path is the same. curve BE. As the cord evolves along the cuspoid as its tangent
(shown by the dashed straight lines), the point mass describes the
lower cycloid EIM, with I as its lowest point.
The cord of the pendulum is perpendicular to the cycloid EIM at
each point. This implies that the motion is subject only to grav-
ity. Hence, this oscillatory motion is isochronous. This principle
was implemented in the isochronous pendulum clocks, by placing
metal ‘checks’ of cycloidal shape near the point of contact of the
pendulum. Models of these clocks can be seen today in several

214 RESONANCE | February 2019

 GENERAL ARTICLE

Figure 7. Huygens’s
tautochronus pendulum de-
scribes a brachistochrone
path.

Dutch and British museums. These clocks were used on board

ships to keep accurate track of the Greenwich Time.

9. Acknowledgment

I thank Sri Arunmozi Selvan Rajaram, Davis Langdon KPK In-

dia Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, India, for his constant support and encour-
agement in my research pursuits. I thank the reviewer for the con-
structive criticism and useful suggestions that have greatly helped
in substantially improving the presentation of the material.

Suggested Reading
[1] E Mach, The Science of Mechanics, A Critical and Historical Account of Its
Development, The Open Court Pub. Co., IL., 1960, pp.516–528.
[2] P C Deshmukh, Parth Rajauria, Abiya Rajans, B R Vyshakh, and Sudipta
Dutta, The Brachistochrone, Resonance, Vol.22, No.9, pp.847–866, 2017.
[3] Kevin Brown, Reflections on Relativity, lulu.com, November 2018,
www.mathpages.com/rr s8-03/8-03.htm.
[4] Steven Strogatz, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cld0p3a43fU
[5] J O’Connor and E F Robertson,
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/PrintHT/Brachistochrone.html, 2002.
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/HistTopics/Brachistochrone.html
[6] David Eugene Smith, A Source Book In Mathematics, Selections from the Clas-
sic Writings of Pascal Leibniz Euler Fermat Gauss Descartes Newton Reimann
and Many Others, Dover Pub. Inc., N. Y. 1959.

RESONANCE | February 2019 215

 GENERAL ARTICLE

[7] H W Broer, Bernoulli’s Light Ray Solution of the Brachistochrone Problem

Through Hamilton’s Eyes, Int. J. Bifurc. Chaos, Vol.24, No.0, p.1440009, 2014.
Address for Correspondence [8] H Erlichson, Johann Bernoulli’s Brachistochrone Solution Using Fermat’s
Radhakrishnamurty Padyala Principle of Least Time, Eur. J. Phys., Vol.20, No.5, pp.299–304, 1999.
282, DMLO, Yelahanka [9] Vsauce (Michael Stevens), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skvnj67YGmw
Bangalore 560 064, India.
Email:
padyala1941@yahoo.com

216 RESONANCE | February 2019