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The ratio of the radius of the larger circle to the radius of the smaller circle determines the number of cusps of the curve. For example if the ratio is 3:1 the curve will have three cusps and it will be a deltoid.
Such curves can be drawn with the Spirograph toy.
A hypocycloid with n + 1 cusps can be defined by the following pair of parametric equations:
The hypocycloid is a special kind of hypotrochoid .
A hypocycloid and its evolute are similar.[1]
The diamonds in the Pittsburgh Steelers logo are hypocycloids.
See also: cycloid, epicycloid.