ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Frenet–Serret formulas

The Frenet-Serret formulas are like a bunch of rules we use to describe how things can move and twist and turn around in space. Let's say we have a point that's moving along a curve, like a roller coaster. Now this point has its own set of coordinates and we can use these formulas to figure out how that point is moving and turning as it rolls along the roller coaster.

There are three things we need to think about: the point's position, velocity, and acceleration. The position tells us where the point is located at any given time, the velocity tells us how fast it's moving, and the acceleration tells us how much its speed is changing.

Now, to figure out how the point is moving and twisting and turning, we need to use vectors. Vectors are like little arrows that tell us both the direction and the magnitude (or size) of motion. We can use these vectors to describe the point's movement along the curve.

The Frenet-Serret formulas help us figure out how these vectors are changing as the point moves along the curve. So, if we know the position, velocity, and acceleration at a particular point, we can use these formulas to determine how the point will move and twist and turn as it continues along the curve.

Overall, the Frenet-Serret formulas are really useful for describing motion and rotation in three-dimensional space. It's like having a set of rules that tells us how any point moving along a curve will behave, so we can predict what it will do next.