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Last active December 6, 2019 22:03
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Circular Segment
license: gpl-3.0
redirect: https://observablehq.com/@mbostock/circular-segment

This example demonstrates how to compute the height h of a circular segment given the fraction k of the circle’s area that should be covered by the segment. For example, for values of k 0, 0.5 and 1, the value of h is k. For other values, h is computed numerically via Newton’s method; I am unaware of an analytical solution to this problem.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<style>
form,
svg {
position: absolute;
}
</style>
<svg width="960" height="500">
<defs>
<marker id="arrow-start" viewBox="0 0 10 10" refX="0" refY="5" markerWidth="7" markerHeight="7" orient="auto">
<path d="M10,0l-10,5l10,5z"></path>
</marker>
<marker id="arrow-end" viewBox="0 0 10 10" refX="10" refY="5" markerWidth="7" markerHeight="7" orient="auto">
<path d="M0,0l10,5l-10,5z"></path>
</marker>
<clipPath id="clip">
<rect x="-240" y="-240" width="480" height="480"></rect>
</clipPath>
</defs>
<g transform="translate(480,250)">
<line x1="280" y1="240" y2="240" stroke="#aaa" stroke-dasharray="2,2"></line>
<line id="line" x1="280" stroke="#aaa" stroke-dasharray="2,2"></line>
<path id="path" stroke="black" d="M280,0V240" marker-start="url(#arrow-start)" marker-end="url(#arrow-end)"></path>
<g id="text" transform="translate(280,0)">
<rect fill="white" x="-36" y="-12" height="24" width="72"></rect>
<text dy=".35em" text-anchor="middle">
<tspan style="font-style:oblique;">h</tspan> = <tspan id="height">0.125</tspan>
</text>
</g>
<circle fill="steelblue" clip-path="url(#clip)" r="240"></circle>
<circle fill="none" stroke="black" stroke-width="1.5" r="240"></circle>
</g>
</svg>
<form oninput="output.value = (input.value / 240).toFixed(3)" style="top:10px;left:10px;">
<input id="input" type="range" min="0" max="240" value="60" style="width:240px;">
<i>k</i> = <output name="output" for="input">0.250</output>
</form>
<script src="//d3js.org/d3.v3.min.js"></script>
<script>
var r = 240;
var line = d3.select("#line"),
path = d3.select("#path"),
text = d3.select("#text"),
textValue = d3.select("#height"),
clip = d3.select("#clip rect");
d3.select("form")
.on("input", function() { change(+this.output.value); });
change(.25);
function change(k) {
var t0, t1 = k * 2 * Math.PI;
// Solve for theta numerically.
if (k > 0 && k < 1) {
t1 = Math.pow(12 * k * Math.PI, 1 / 3);
for (var i = 0; i < 10; ++i) {
t0 = t1;
t1 = (Math.sin(t0) - t0 * Math.cos(t0) + 2 * k * Math.PI) / (1 - Math.cos(t0));
}
k = (1 - Math.cos(t1 / 2)) / 2;
}
var h = 2 * r * k,
y = r - h,
a = (Math.PI - t1) / 2;
clip
.attr("y", y)
.attr("height", h);
line
.attr("x2", -r * Math.cos(a))
.attr("y1", y)
.attr("y2", y);
text
.attr("transform", "translate(280," + (r - h / 2) + ")");
textValue
.text((h / (2 * r)).toFixed(3));
path
.attr("d", "M280," + r + "V" + y);
}
</script>
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