It’s not often that I stumble upon an illusion I can’t figure out. What you see below isn’t some team building assignment, but rather an optical illusion. I assure you it’s not manipulated. This is really puzzling, don’t you agree? Your previous assignments were much easier you have to admit. Like the time when I couldn’t spot that easy baby illusion. Let’s brain-storm this one. How did it took place? After this you might want to solve some easier examples, and let your brain relax. The ones I’m referring to are impossible bottles and cube toy.
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ya,not an illusion just a simple method of balancing it.
it’s either the center balance point, or it’s actually on a flat surface that looks like a wall (I didn’t realise it was a wall at first, i thought it was a flat bench and was confused as to how it was an illusion!
this one’s easy! it’s in the physics. see, the hammer make’s the thing’s center of gravity below the table, so it balances! Not too hard…
ok yall. look at the angle of the ruler and the shadow. it appears to me that there is a nail in the wall where the ruler angles to touch it at the far end. i don’t think the side of the rulerais actually parallel to the board.
Ok yall (y’all – pardon) – in concordance with Robert here – I’d like to point out that it must be nailed in the wall since the flash from the camera has cast a shadow apparently behind it – this is a second ‘illusion’ in the photo – although the first isn’t an illusion…
it is simply – as said – multiple times before – it is simply an issue of the centre of gravity being just under where the ruler meets the table. The string holding the hammer to the ruler – as said before – creates a lever and fulcrum effect (fulcrum being where the hammer meets the string) and the lever moves over (because the head of the hammer has a greater mass than the handle) exerting a force onto the ruler causing it to bend upwards and still – as stated before – makes the hammer and ruler act as a single entity with a centre of gravity below the far left of the ruler in this case.
Ultimately this means that the hammer-ruler entity can balance on the tip of the ruler directly above the centre of gravity. The hammer-ruler and other experiments like the fork-cork can easily be replicated.
As a simpler analogy – imagine a G-Clamp (large g-shaped clamp used all over the place mainly in wood/metal work but also has countless other applications – also called a C-Clamp). You can sit the G-Clamp on a desk (with the screw hanging downwards towards the floor – and not tightened so as to clamp the desk obviously) and it will balance. You can hang whatever weights you want from the screw and it will still balance.
You can also purchase penholders that are shaped like an upturned ‘7’ balancing on the point of the shorter stroke. Some perpetual motion machines (fascinating small desk ornaments that don’t actually exhibit perpetual motion but they still run for hours without any formal (apart from the initial) energy input. There are many other examples too!
I think that’s a simple enough explanation. Have fun!
its quite simple:
the string stops the hammer from falling. the handle of the hammer is pushing up at the end of the ruler. the weight of the metal part of the hammer keeps it balanced. there is a part of the ruler on the table, this is for show that a ruler can stay in midair – which is not true. you can see how the ruler bends after the string because of the pressure. i have done this before and is really hard. it requires much balance and a strong ruler. all i can say is that there is no nailing or hammering required.
i see…the hammer is nailed to the wall and the string is wrapped to the hammer and the end of the ruler is balanced on the hammer
Look at it upside down, the hammer is touching the floor, and it’s almost looking like the ruler is glued to the table.
XD HAHAHA! CP Robertson gives a 5-paragraph, 100% correct explanation of the ‘illusion’, and then Cheese gives us another one, and the very next two comments are all like, “Ooh I know! IT’S GLUED TO THE FLOOR!!!!”
Hahahahahaha!!! Why do we even bother?
If you look carefully there is anail in the claw of the hammer and i suspect that there is a nail in the wall under the ruler. Study the shadow, the ruler is closer to the wall than it seems and has been positioned at an angle so that the edge of the shelf alters the perspective of the picture (the angle of the string which slants away from you confirms this).
for the ruler to tip downwards, the hammer would have to move upwards raising the center of gravity of the system. So the system is therefore stable.
It is not a matter of center of balance. If done right you can probably do it without having the hammer head underneath the table.
Because of the string, the entire mass of the hammer can be treated as a point mass at the point where the string is attached on the ruler. providing a negative torque. (clockwise from the observer’s point of view) equal to the mass of the hammer times the distance from the table edge.
However we also see another another source of torque from the handle in the positive (counter-clockwise) direction.
Now, the magnitude of the force is less than the magnitude of the force from the entire hammer, but because it is applied at a more distant point from the fulcrum the torque is greater thereby allowing the equilibrium seen in the photo.
Are all you people NUTS? Look at the shadows! All the things on the picture are on the floor! I’m 9 years old and I worked that out!
Nice balance! I also like the vid poster number 20 provided a link for.
The hammer is keeping the ruler to the table.
no gravity here
We had to do this in school but we had to do it with a METER STICK!
maybe it’s about the center of gravity..
I think the handle of the hammer pushing on the ruler pushes the other end down on the table, which keeps it from falling
Wow! That’s weird. I think they put the hammer on the wall somehow.
Oh Dear lord. its simple physics. the head of the hammer is under the desk and hence moving the centre of gravity to a point that is on/under the desk. this combined with the force of the hammer lifting the back of the ruler causes it to “float”
And by the way im 16 years old, anyone who is older than me should be ashmed of themselves
im 11yrs young…:D
its easy, the weight of the end of the hammer is keeping the ruler balanced :P see what i meen
anyway anyone older than me should be ashamed of themselves if they cant work it out :D
I, too, like pie [O-O]
Hehehee! nice to read here the ludicrous comments from glue- and nailmaniacs.
Be reasonable. That trick is real! I have done the same trick. And some wont believe it even if their see it with their own eyes from any angle.
Help Smokey Prevent Wildfires!
If you flip the picture upside down, it looks like the hammer is glued to the wall and is holding the ruler up. Whether that is not it, that makes a good optical illusion within itself.
I also think it is real. I have dome some basic calculations based on what I see in the picture. First, here are what I estimated – The hammer is hanging approx 3.5 units from the table and the hammer is touching 17.5 units from the table. Based on this I calculate (based on turning moments – Physics) that ratio of 1.the difference between the heavy side of the hammer and its light side to 2. the sum of the heavy side of the hammer and its light side is 5 (17.5 / 3.5) – Thus I calculate based on this that the light side of the hammer is 2/3 of the heavy side. Now that seems reasonable to me as that is what I expect in a real hammer. Now I realize that this is not a direct verification. All I have done is to take what I can at face value and calculated a number for a piece of equipment I know and that seems to be able to provide the required forces for balance.
ur all stupid its nothing to do with nails or balance wat u look at and think is a wall is in fact a table. the ruler is set at an angle ontop of the hammers handle if u look at the ruler and hammer u will see they both have shadows why dosent; the plank have one because its flat on the table the hammer and ruller are both tilted
Loyalknight…you’re the stupid one…
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-create-a-hammer-and-ruler-impossible-illusion-275973/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CJhzuzUgjo
OMG you are all dumb, can’t you see there’s a refrigerator hanging off one side of the picture with a chain tied to a truck, which is counterbalancing the color yellow, which influences the weight of the basket of sunflowers which is sitting on the edge of the piece of glass with the fishing wire attached to the hammer, causing the earth’s gravitational forces to pull the moon closer, influencing the tides, making one side of the equator heavier than the other, which makes this picture possible in Guam. And that’s where it was taken.
Solved. Me FTW. I will now ignore all accusations of idiocy or statements to the contrary of my answer.