SIC-Great Reflections

Great Reflections

DEAR SCIENCE WORLD,

A friend of mine brought me back a kaleidoscope from her holiday. Ever since, I can’t put it down—I’m obsessed with trying to figure out how the thing works. I keep finding myself staring at the colourful patterns while I’m trying to eat and at night, I dream kaleidoscope images. Help! Can you please explain to me how kaleidoscopes work?

Seeing Colours

Dear Colours,

Those colours, shapes and patterns you see through the tube can be downright mesmerizing, it’s no wonder you have trouble focusing on the snap, crackle, pop in your cereal bowl.

Inside a kaleidoscope, you’ll find nothing more mysterious than two or three long mirrors set along the inside of the tube at an angle to each other. When you look into one end, light comes in from the other end to illuminate the beads or pebbles (or other coloured objects) inside. The light is reflected by the mirrors to create multiple images in a symmetric pattern. As you rotate the tube, the beads tumble around, changing the pattern.

One of the really cool things about kaleidoscopes is how the angle between the mirrors affects how many duplicate images you see of the beads. Check it out by staring into a pair of hand mirrors propped together like a book. As you change the angle, you’ll see whole crowds of yourself peering back at you.

The same idea applies to kaleidoscopes. If you have two mirrors and you put them at 45 degrees to each other, you’ll end up with eight duplicate images of the beads. But, if you put the mirrors at 60 degrees, then you’ll end up with only six duplicate images. With three mirrors, the reflections of reflections go on to infinity!

Kaleidoscope designers experiment with different angles, coloured objects and numbers of mirrors to create incredible patterns of symmetry. The combinations are endless and limited only by the designer’s imagination.

Some kaleidoscopes are small and inexpensive and make great toys while others, like the one that’s showing right now in Orbis Pictus at Science World at TELUS World of Science, are huge works of art and very valuable.

Many people keep a kaleidoscope on their desks to help relax them during breaks. The combination of colours, light and patterns is calming and may help de-stress you when you need it. But it’s probably a good idea not to look through it while you’re eating, otherwise your spilled cereal might make its own unique pattern on your breakfast table.

Reflective Expert, Sandy Eix, Ph.D.