How Touch the Bulb Works

The rays continue on through this convergence point and strike your eye. The lens of your eye brings the rays together once again to create an image on your retina. Your eye and brain can't tell the difference between a retinal image of the reflected bulb and a retinal image of the actual bulb.

In some respects, however, the reflected image of the lightbulb differs from the actual bulb. Placing an object behind the reflected image will obscure the lightbulb. Many people feel queasy when they see this seemingly unnatural occurrence.

Materials

• A concave mirror

• Wood to build a small box for the lightbulb.

• 2 light sockets, one with an electrical cord and plug.

• A lightbulb

Procedure

1. Make a small wooden box with one open side as shown in the drawing. It should be wide enough and deep enough to hold the light bulb.

2. Paint all surfaces of the box black.

3. Mount the socket that has no electrical cord or plug so that it is centered on top of the box.

4. Mount the other socket (the one with the cord and plug) upside-down inside the box, directly beneath the empty socket.

5. Build the mirror support as shown in the drawing, and place the mirror in it.

Physics Behind Touch the Bulb Project

An optical illusion is a trick played on the mind using an image that is visually perceived in a way that's different from what it is in objective reality. It uses the fact that our brains interpret and process information from the eye and makes unconscious inferences without you realizing it.

For example, read this fast- can you undrestnad waht this setnenece maeans? Yes, quite easily, because your brain infers the meaning of words based on only a few letter seen by your eyes.

Physics Behind The Concave Mirror

When the object is located at the center of curvature, the image will also be located at the center of curvature. In this case, the image will be inverted (i.e., a right side up object results in an upside-down image). The image dimensions are equal to the object dimensions. A six-foot tall person would have an image that is six feet tall; the absolute value of the magnification is equal to 1. Finally, the image is a real image. Light rays actually converge at the image location. As such, the image of the object could be projected upon a sheet of paper.