The fastest possible path or curve between two points that an object sliding under gravity would follow, forming a special curved line that's faster than a straight path.
From Greek 'brachy' (shortest) + 'stochos' (path) + 'chronos' (time), literally 'shortest time.' This mathematical problem was famously posed by Johann Bernoulli in 1696.
This mind-bending curve (called a cycloid) actually gets a rolling ball to the bottom faster than the obvious straight-line shortcut—it seems impossible but the math proves it!
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