Dahlgren School Home
Privacy and Security Notice
Back to Grade 4
Page Last Updated 03/08/2005
Let's Learn About Distortion Illusions

Another type of optical illusion is called a Distortion.  A distortion causes a familiar object to bend or change shape before our eyes!  See if you can find the tricks:
 

Distorted square
 Look at the square on the left.
Are the sides curved or straight?

Believe it or not, they are straight as can be.  Hold the edge of a piece of paper up to the screen to prove it.

The circles distort the straight lines to make them appear curved.
Are these two vertical lines the same length?
If you said no, you've been fooled by a distortion illusion!
Distorted lines
 

Distorted color example
 How many colors do you see?

It looks like three or four, but really there are only two--red and green!  People usually think they see 2 shades of red, but there is only 1.  That's because on one side that white boxes surround the red boxes, and on the other side, green boxes do!  Due to the placement of these boxes you get the "illusion" of different colors.  Since white is not considered to be a color we say that there are just two colors here.
Are the puple lines bent?
What is happening here??
Distorted parallel lines
 

Another example distorted parallel lines
 Are the big long diagonal lines parallel?
They sure are!!
You can experiment with more distortion illusions by visiting the Sandlot Science Distortion Illusions page.  There are lots of experiments for you to try. Remember to click the back button to get back to this page!!
Next stop:  Impossible Illusions