Mystery Spot illusion explanation

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter jobyts
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Explanation Mystery
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The Mystery Spot illusion is primarily attributed to the slanted architecture of the house, which creates various optical illusions, such as people appearing to walk on walls and pendulums swinging at unusual angles. A notable demonstration involves two individuals of different heights standing on a level beam, where their perceived heights change when they swap positions, despite the beam being confirmed level with a spirit level. Additionally, a rubber ball appears to roll uphill on a wooden rail, which is also proven to be level, suggesting that the illusion is enhanced by the design of the rail.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of optical illusions and perspective
  • Familiarity with basic physics principles, particularly gravity
  • Knowledge of spirit levels and their use in measuring angles
  • Awareness of slanted structures and their effects on perception
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the physics behind optical illusions and how they manipulate perception
  • Explore the principles of gravity and how they apply to inclined surfaces
  • Investigate the design and mechanics of toys that create similar illusions, such as "Shoot the Moon"
  • Learn about the psychological effects of perspective and spatial awareness in architecture
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for educators, psychology enthusiasts, architects, and anyone interested in the science of perception and optical illusions.

jobyts
Messages
226
Reaction score
60
http://www.mysteryspot.com/

How do you explain what you experience there?

I understand it's all optical illusion. I can explain - people walking on the wall, pendulum swinging at an angle - is just a slant-walled house.

The thing I could not explain is the relative height difference they demonstrate. The ask 2 people of different height to stand on a beam. Then they swap their position - the taller guy looks shorter and vice versa. The beam is not inclined - they prove it with a spirit level.

Also, they show a rubber ball rolling upwards in a wooden rail. With a spirit level, they show the wooden rail is not slanted.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
jobyts said:
http://www.mysteryspot.com/

How do you explain what you experience there?

I understand it's all optical illusion. I can explain - people walking on the wall, pendulum swinging at an angle - is just a slant-walled house.

The thing I could not explain is the relative height difference they demonstrate. The ask 2 people of different height to stand on a beam. Then they swap their position - the taller guy looks shorter and vice versa. The beam is not inclined - they prove it with a spirit level.

Also, they show a rubber ball rolling upwards in a wooden rail. With a spirit level, they show the wooden rail is not slanted.

The house is slanted.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
CEL said:
The house is slanted.


I understand the house is slanted and it explains most of the stuff. But they put a spirit level on the beam and the bubble is exactly in the middle.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
jobyts said:
I understand the house is slanted and it explains most of the stuff. But they put a spirit level on the beam and the bubble is exactly in the middle.

Probably the beam is level, but the groove where the ball runs is slightly slanted.
 
It is possible to make an object appear to roll uphill if the track the object, such as a ball, changes in width. There was/is an old kids toy from many years ago that used this principle.

There are two metals rods, equal in length and thickness. They are each attached to a separate hinge or axle, so that the far end, the rods can be moved further apart. The pair of rods are inclined slightly, so that the free ends are lower then the fixed ends. The object of the game was to control the free ends to allow a steel ball to "roll" uphill before falling. The further uphill, the more points.

How it works is that even the object appears to go uphill, the center of gravity is falling as the width of the rods increase.

I think it was called Shoot the Moon, and my parents still have it at their place. I will see if I can find when I am there next, though may be some time.

Found a picture:
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/3926/314tfkn5bklss400.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Insanity said:
Found a picture:
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/3926/314tfkn5bklss400.jpg

Wow, that's an old picture! Still has pluto on it... :wink:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
and its missing Venus, Uranus and Neptune.
plus the Moon isn't even on it.
 
I remember playing with one of those. My uncle had one.
 

Similar threads

High School My paraphrased explanation of the Twin Paradox
  • · Replies 24 ·
Replies
24
Views
5K
High School Leave the science to Scientists. Just tell me what is SR.
  • · Replies 29 ·
Replies
29
Views
3K
High School Is spacetime a quantum error correcting code?
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
3K
Writing: Input Wanted What Makes Great Lakes Earth So Geographically Unique?
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
4K
High School How Does an IEC Fusion Reactor Work?
  • · Replies 19 ·
Replies
19
Views
5K
Graduate Still confusion in relativity of simultaneity and time dilation .
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
3K
Graduate Cantor's Diagonalization Proof of the uncountability of the real numbers
  • · Replies 93 ·
4
Replies
93
Views
21K
Seaport 2.5 Miles Above Sea Level(?)
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
10K
Graduate Concerns about ontological interpetations of Theory of Relativity
  • · Replies 70 ·
3
Replies
70
Views
9K
Mathematica This Week's Finds in Mathematical Physics (Week 241)
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
5K