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involute, of a curve C, a curve that intersects all the tangents of the curve C at right angles.

To construct an involute of a curve C, use may be made of the so-called string property. Let one end of a piece of string of fixed length be attached to a point P on the curve C and let the string be wrapped along C. Then, as the string is unwrapped, being held taut so that the portion of the string that has been unwrapped is always tangent to C, the locus of the free end of the string is an involute of C. With the same point of attachment P, different involutes of C are obtained by using pieces of string of different lengths.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray.