ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Trochoid

A trochoid is a fancy word that describes a shape that something follows when it moves in a very particular way. It's like when you draw a circle but then you move the pencil around in such a way that the shape it makes is really cool and different!

When a dot or a point moves around the inside of a circle, it is making a kind of trochoid called a cycloid. It looks like a wave that goes up and down smoothly.

But when that point is attached to a spinning rod and moves along an outside circle, it creates a different kind of trochoid called an epicycloid. This shape has lots of fun little loops and bumps in it!

Finally, if the little point moves along the inside of a circle that is rolling along the ground like a wheel, it creates a trochoid called an hypocycloid. This one looks like a flower with lots of petals.

Trochoids are really cool shapes that help us understand how things move in different ways. They are used in lots of things like gears and machines, and even in art and music!