John howell is physics teacher at the University of Rochester (very close to Lake Ontario) and decided to make, with the help of his 14-year-old son Benjamin, a very simple optical system although with a very effective and very cheap camouflage effect. The execution of the experiment is carried out by two people in the video below and it is very fun and very well done. In the first place you cannot see a part of the child and then you cannot see a part of the other protagonist.
For those who have an interest in knowing what the trick is, because all this always has a trick, is that it is played with mirrors, which can be seen in the image. Thanks to these mirrors and the one seen in the frontal plane it can be achieved that just the people who stand behind the mirror, slightly inclined, cannot be seen in the reflection which ensures invisibility. It is also convenient to look at the stripes on the wall to realize that they are not continuous. In any case it is a Very fun, simple experiment that teaches reflection immediately.
As you can read on YouTube the experiment included three low cost constructions to accept the challenge of simulating a cheap, simple and efficient camouflage mechanism
The first device was from plexiglass and water, the second uses four 3 dollar lenses (3 euros approx.) And the third device, which is the one that can be seen in the video and that apparently also use the magicians, uses low cost mirrors. In total, the teacher spent about $ 150 (just over 100 euros) on the project material. In addition, Howell indicated that the device, although it has some drawbacks, for example, that it only works from the front, is scalable to large dimensions. We want to see it!
The video has almost 300,000 views on YouTube. It is an example of how science can be taught in an easy and attractive way to kids and that making them participate in the experiments increases their knowledge and stimulates their imagination.
