Question

G Wednesday homework problem 12.2 To make a mirror, you line the inside of a half-sphere with a radius 50cm with silver. You can use this mirror as a spherical solar cooker. At what distance from the bottom of the ball should the food be placed for maxiμm heating?

a) At the bottom of the sphere.
b) At the center of the sphere.
c) At the top of the sphere.
d) Cannot be determined without additional information.

Answer 1

For maximum heating in a spherical solar cooker, food should be placed at the focal point, which is at the center of the sphere, 25 cm from the bottom of the cooker.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's schoolwork question is about determining the optimal placement of food within a spherical solar cooker for maximum heating. To solve this problem, we must apply the concept that parallel rays of light, such as those coming from the sun, will converge at the focal point of a spherical mirror. Using the law of reflection, for a spherical mirror, the focal length (f) is half the radius of curvature (R). Therefore, for a spherical mirror with a radius (R) of 50 cm, the focal length (f) will be 25 cm, which is half of the radius.

The correct answer to the question is that for maximum heating, food should be placed at the focal point of the spherical mirror. As such, the food should be placed 25 cm from the bottom of the spherical solar cooker, which corresponds to the center of the sphere.