Coordinate Geometric Generalization of the Spherometer and Cylindrometer

Spherometer is an instrument widely used for measuring the radius of curvature of a spherical surface. Cylindrometer is a modified spherometer, which can measure the radii of both spherical and cylindrical surfaces. Both of these instruments are based on a geometric relation unique to circles and spheres, from Euclidean geometry. A more general understanding is obtained using coordinate geometry. The coordinate geometric approach also enables a generalization of the spherometer and cylindrometer to devices, which can handle aspherical surfaces. Here, we present the newly developed coordinate geometric approach and its applications.