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Leibniz, Huygens and Johann Bernoulli, 1691
The shape a heavy, flexible chain takes when it hangs from two points. Galileo saw that it is close to a parabola, and closer the flatter it hangs; Leibniz, Huygens and Johann Bernoulli found its true equation independently in 1691. Turned upside down, it is the shape of an arch of stones that stands by its own weight.
y = a cosh(x/a)
On mathcurve.com as Chaînette