Question

Three mirrors are created from a single sphere. Which of the following - pole, centre of curvature, radius of curvature, principal axis - will be common to them and which will not be common?

Answer 1

Let us name the mirrors as M₁, M₂ and M₃ as shown below.

From the figure, we see that

• pole (P) is not common
• centre of curvature (C) is common
• principal axis (PA) is not common
• radius of curvature (R) is common. Radius of curvature is the radius of the sphere. In the given figure, length CP is same for all mirrors.