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{{short description|Center of the circle which best approximates a curve at a given point}}{{Use American English|date=November 2020}}(File:Concave mirror qwertyxp2000.png|thumb|A concave mirror with light rays)(File:Radius of curvature.svg|thumb|400px|Center of curvature)In geometry, the center of curvature of a curve is found at a point that is at a distance from the curve equal to the radius of curvature lying on the normal vector. It is the point at infinity if the curvature is zero. The osculating circle to the curve is centered at the centre of curvature. Cauchy defined the center of curvature C as the intersection point of two infinitely close normal lines to the curve.*{{citation It can also be defined as the spherical distance between the point at which all the rays falling on a lens or mirror either seems to converge to (in the case of convex lenses and concave mirrors) or diverge from (in the case of concave lenses or convex mirrors) and the lens/mirror itself.BOOK, Trinklein, Frederick E., Modern physics, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1992, 0-03-074317-6, Austin, 25702491, 7th,

See also

• Curvature
• Differential geometry of curves

References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

• {{Citation | last1=Hilbert | first1=David | author1-link=David Hilbert | last2=Cohn-Vossen | first2=Stephan | author2-link=Stephan Cohn-Vossen | title=Geometry and the Imagination | publisher=Chelsea | location=New York | edition=2nd | isbn=978-0-8284-0087-9 | year=1952 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/geometryimaginat00davi_0 }}

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