What equation makes a heart?
John Castro
Published Jan 16, 2026
Formed by (x^2 + y^2 + a x)^2 = a^2(x^2 + y^2), the cardioid is known to be a special case of an epicycloid, shown below, which is created by rolling around a circle around the circumference of another circle. Depicted above are other equations that can be used to create the heart shape.