Curves that allow the motion of a regular polygon

Abstract

This paper characterizes curves where a regular polygon of either a variable side length or a constant side length is allowed to rotate during k full revolutions while having its vertices on the curve during the motion. A constructive method to generate these curves is given based on the curve described by the polygon centers (centroids) during the motion and some examples are shown. Moreover, if the regular polygon divides the curve perimeter into parts of equal length, it is proved that the curve is either a rotational symmetric curve in the case of a variable side length or a circle otherwise. Finally, in the case of a regular polygon of constant side length rotating along a curve, a simple relation between the algebraic areas of such a curve and the curve of polygon centers is revisited.