2007-03-27 16:17:51 · 5 answers · asked by warlock4 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Visual perception has as much to do with how your nervous system processes the light received as much as optics per se. Different parts of the retina are processed in more or less detail depending on where they are, with greatest attention given to the center of one's field of view. peripheral vision is processed with low resolution and more slowly. So, if you focus on one part of the pencil to see it more clearly, the other parts of the pencil are perceived with an effective time lag - when the shaft was at a different angle. It therefore looks bent.
2007-03-27 16:46:59 · answer #1 · answered by Dr. R 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Your brain can only process information in 1/34th of a second frames of action. This is why the NTSC standard for TV is 30 frames per second, so you can see true motion without any jerks or speeding up of the video stream. Therefore, a pencil wiggling faster than this will tend to blur in your mind's image, giving the illusion of a bend in the pencil.
2007-03-27 16:22:30 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
its an optical illusion. your eye sees its only so fast, so you only see what image it has left behind.
2007-03-27 16:21:34 · answer #3 · answered by green.eclipse 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
optical illusion
2007-03-27 16:25:26 · answer #4 · answered by 4 strings 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's called persistance of vision.
2007-03-27 16:21:13 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋