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Bottomless pit
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How does the exhibit work?
Press the button. This turns on the light in the well. Then it looks like the well is very deep.
What is the science behind it?
No, you can’t see the other side of the world. The bottom of this well is closer than you think. But there’s a mirror in it. And at the top there’s a mirror too. By placing two mirrors parallel to each other, they bounce each other's image back and forth. Therefore, the tunnel appears to be infinitely deep.
The top one of the two mirrors is semi-transparent. So it does reflect, but we can look through it at the same time.
Infinity at the fair
Have you ever walked through the house of mirrors at the fair? The reflections of yourself probably looked as if they went on and on an infinite
number of times.
Artists also like to play with mirrors. How about this room of mirrors by the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama?
Infinity of the universe
Is our universe infinite? Some scientists think so. Although there is currently no way to test this. So either the universe goes on forever, or it is just very big and we simply have not discovered the end yet.
Infinity of prime numbers
2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17,… A prime number is only divisible by 1 and itself (except for 1). The Greek mathematician Euclid proved back in the 3rd century BC that there are infinitely many prime numbers.
How does the exhibit work?
Press the button. This turns on the light in the well. Then it looks like the well is very deep.
What is the science behind it?
No, you can’t see the other side of the world. The bottom of this well is closer than you think. But there’s a mirror in it. And at the top there’s a mirror too. By placing two mirrors parallel to each other, they bounce each other's image back and forth. Therefore, the tunnel appears to be infinitely deep.
The top one of the two mirrors is semi-transparent. So it does reflect, but we can look through it at the same time.
Infinity at the fair
Have you ever walked through the house of mirrors at the fair? The reflections of yourself probably looked as if they went on and on an infinite
number of times.
Artists also like to play with mirrors. How about this room of mirrors by the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama?
Infinity of the universe
Is our universe infinite? Some scientists think so. Although there is currently no way to test this. So either the universe goes on forever, or it is just very big and we simply have not discovered the end yet.
Infinity of prime numbers
2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17,… A prime number is only divisible by 1 and itself (except for 1). The Greek mathematician Euclid proved back in the 3rd century BC that there are infinitely many prime numbers.
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