| the locus of a point whose path cuts each curve of a family of curves at right angles. |

orthogonal trajectory
family of curves that intersect another family of curves at right angles (orthogonal; see ). Such families of mutually orthogonal curves occur in such branches of physics as electrostatics, in which the lines of force and the lines of constant potential are orthogonal; and in hydrodynamics, in which the streamlines and the lines of constant velocity are orthogonal
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