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Note:
The exhibit on the museum floor uses a neon bulb like
the one pictured above. Since most computer screens flicker
just like the neon bulb, it can also work with your screen.
How well this works will depend on the scan rate of your
CRT (and how strong a bronx cheer you can make!). This
will not work with LCD displays as they are too slow to
strobe properly.
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-Stand about ten feet away from your computer
screen. Stare at the pattern above and give it a rousing
raspberry
.
Notice that the pattern seems to wiggle.
-Vary the frequency of your raspberry and watch
the screen.
-Wipe off the screen!
No part of screen is moving. Instead, your whole
body is vibrating, including your eyes. You can feel this vibration
by putting your hand on your head as you blow. The pattern on
the screen is flashing on and off 60 times a second or more. Because
your body is moving, your eye is in a different position as the
screen is drawn. As the image of the screen traces a path across
your eye, it looks like the screen is moving. You can get this
effect by blowing a raspberry while looking at any flickering
display; try this in front of your television set at home
Since the Internet allows us to send our exhibits out widely,
we are aware that some English expressions and idioms may not
translate directly into other languages. We would like to know
what you call a "bronx cheer" or "raspberry" in your language!
Send us email with your translation to
ronh@exploratorium.edu
.
(If you can give us a citation, all the better!) We'll post the
results here.
English
Bronx cheer
Raspberry
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