yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Mirrors And The Fourth Dimension


less than 1m read
·Nov 10, 2024

Mirrors do not show us a fourth dimension, but they do show us what a fourth dimension could do to us. First, notice that some things are the same as their mirror image, but some things are not. These two shapes are similar, but they cannot be rotated to look identical, to be superimposable on each other. This is called being chiral.

A chiral shape and its mirror image are called anatomorphs. These two shapes are anatomorphs in two dimensions. No amount of two-dimensional rotations will ever make them superimposable. To do that, I'll need to smash one of them inside out, turn it into its own mirror image, or rotate it in a third, higher dimension.

If I place a sticker here and face that side away from me, notice that the mirror inverts the object, just like a rotation through a higher dimension. The side of the real object that's furthest from me becomes the side of the virtual object that's closest to me. So, what would I look like if I was rotated around a plane in a fourth spatial dimension and then brought back? I would look like that.

More Articles

View All
Death & Dynasties
Rulers are often related, with power passing from member to member, forming a dynasty. This occurs not just with royalty or dictators, but also with representatives in a democracy. Families frequently pass power or compete with other families for a turn a…
Free response example: Significance test for a mean | AP Statistics | Khan Academy
Regulations require that product labels on containers of food that are available for sale to the public accurately state the amount of food in those containers. Specifically, if milk containers are labeled to have 128 fluid ounces and the mean number of f…
The Gray Rock Method | Beat ‘Toxic People’ with Serenity
Some people really get in our hair. Moreover, there are individuals that, for some reason, take delight in getting emotional reactions out of others. When they succeed, they win, and their ability to hurt gives them a sense of power. Whether we call them …
8 Daily Habits That Changed My Life
What’s up, you guys? It’s Graham here. So, the new year is fast approaching. It’s almost going to be 2020, and for some reason, I still think that five years ago was 2010. But anyway, as we get closer to the new year, people begin creating their New Year…
Khan for Educators: Assignment reports
Hi, I’m Megan from Khan Academy, and in this video, we’ll walk through the reports related to assignments on Khan Academy. After you’ve created assignments on Khan Academy and your students have completed those assignments, you can track progress using a …
I Got Covid
So as you can see from the title, I got COVID. Initially, I held back from talking about this since, one, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t experiencing any long-lasting side effects before sharing my own experience, and two, I was nervous because I guess th…