normal plane
normal plane
[′nȯr·məl ′plān]Normal Plane
(to a space curve at a given point M), the plane that passes through M perpendicular to the tangent line at M. The normal plane contains all normals to the curve that pass through the given point. If the curve is given in rectangular coordinates by the equations x = f(t), y = g(t), and z = h(t), then the equation of the normal plane at the point M(x0, y0, z0)corresponding to the value to of the parameter t can be written in the form