Profile picture
Vincent Pantal🍩ni @panlepan
, 11 tweets, 5 min read Read on Twitter
How do you see these points moving ?
Ben Sparks @SparksMaths started a great talk last week for #latemaths with this simple animation. People see different things. What do *you* see ?
Some see the endpoints of a twirling baton as @shskaercher mentioned it.
And Mark even pictured the trace of this baton whose envelope is an astroid.
Similarily you might see the points turning in circles (or maybe you have a bad WiFi like @TeaKayB )
You might have noticed like @k1monfared or @Karl4MarioMugan or @OlivierReims that the points move like this, forming a + sign.
But you might also see something else like @MarcdeFalco. Here's a hint.
Now it should be clear...
Now, can you explain why the twirling baton has a fixed length ?
Now @aknauft saw it in 3D, which would absolutely give the same thing.
Here points (cos(t), sin(t), 0) and (0, cos(t), sin(t)) which projected onto the xOz plane shows (cos(t),0) and (0, sin(t)).
Now if you do the same thing on two other lines perpendicular lines y=+/- x, it's hard not to see a rotating square (especially now that it's drawn 😄) where all the vertices are actually moving along a straight line.
Remove the circle and the lines to get a cool illusion. Hard to spot that the points move along straight lines now.
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Vincent Pantal🍩ni
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member and get exclusive features!

Premium member ($30.00/year)

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!