Radius of curvature

Okay kiddo, do you know what a curve or a bend is? It's when something changes direction from a straight line and goes round and round like a rollercoaster or a slide.

Now, think about a round wheel like the one on a bike or a car. The edge of the wheel is curved like a bend, right?

The radius of curvature is a way to measure how much a curve or bend is curved. It's the distance from the center of the curve to the edge of the curve, like from the center of the round wheel to its edge.

So, the bigger the radius of curvature, the less curved a thing is. If we had a giant wheel, it would have a big radius of curvature because it's not very curved, but if we had a tiny wheel, it would have a small radius of curvature because it's really curved.

We use the radius of curvature to help us design things like rollercoasters, where we want to make sure the curves aren't too sharp or too flat, for safety and excitement.