David,  from work with kiln designs, for ceramics, a caternary arch is
by definition one in which the base is the same width as the height. If
you change that relationship then you have something other than a
catenary arch or curve. It may well be a hyperbola or a parabola. I
don't know which, but one you change that height/base relation of 1::1
then you no longer have the canternary arch.

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

David Brodbeck wrote:

>On Wed, 29 Jan 2003, Kim Brennan wrote:
>
>
>
>>I believe what you do is put the pins 22" apart (and level). Tie one
>>end of the string to one of the pins. Run the string over to the other
>>pin, and adjust the length until the hanging section is 8" deep. Tie up
>>the string at that point. The path that the string takes is a natural
>>hyperbolic, I believe.
>>
>>
>
>That'd be a caternary curve.  I don't know if they're hyperbolics or not.
>I'm pretty sure there's a way to do it that involves the string being
>tight.  I know you can do an ellipse that way, but I can't remember the
>details.  Involves two pins and a loop of string, I think.
>
>             _ _
>  __ _ _   _| | |  | David M. Brodbeck (N8SRE)              Ypsilanti, MI
> / _` | | | | | |  +-----------------------------------------------------
>| (_| | |_| | | | @ cyberspace.org
> \__, |\__,_|_|_| "To the optimist, the glass is half full.  To the
> |___/             pessimist, the glass is half empty.  To the engineer,
>                   the glass is twice as big as it needs to be."
>
>
>