Additional Info

• ID Code: L2-06
• Purpose: Plane-mirror magic trick
• Description:
  
  A box has been divided diagonally by a flat mirror. A hatch in the top lets a toy rabbit be dropped in to the space behind the mirror.

  Engagement Suggestion

  • • The box is first shown to the group. Then the black cloth is placed over the front of the box, the trap door on top of the box opened, and the rabbit put into the box through the trap door.
  • • Invite students to predict what they will see when the cloth is removed.
  • • When the black cloth is removed the rabbit has vanished into thin air (behind the mirror).
  • • Challenge then to analyze how this has happened
  • • Explain the positioning of the mirror, and invite them to consider what it would look like with the mirror at different angles.

  Background

  Because the mirror is mounted at a 45 degree angle, it reflects the bottom of the box to look like the rear of the box. So viewed from the front, the box appears empty. This is a common technique for creating such illusions.
  
• Availability: Available
• Loc codes: L2