- #1
Livethefire
- 51
- 0
Forgive the sloppy use of math and inability to produce an image. I noticed this last christmas.
If you have a fairy light ( or perhaps any LED etc), and shine it normal to a surface, you see a circle. If you place the light flat on the surface you see a curve - to me the fairy lights' curve looks like a hyperbola.
Does this have any relation to the equation of a circle:
[tex]x^2+y^2=const.[/tex]
And Hyperbola:
[tex]x^2-y^2=const.[/tex]
And subsitution for 90 degrees rotation? :
[tex]y\rightarrow iy[/tex]
If so, how does this even work? The experiment is all in real space. If not, is this just sloppy use of math? Any significance?
Thanks
If you have a fairy light ( or perhaps any LED etc), and shine it normal to a surface, you see a circle. If you place the light flat on the surface you see a curve - to me the fairy lights' curve looks like a hyperbola.
Does this have any relation to the equation of a circle:
[tex]x^2+y^2=const.[/tex]
And Hyperbola:
[tex]x^2-y^2=const.[/tex]
And subsitution for 90 degrees rotation? :
[tex]y\rightarrow iy[/tex]
If so, how does this even work? The experiment is all in real space. If not, is this just sloppy use of math? Any significance?
Thanks