How does this work?

[Neon Ninja Nightmare]

Hi guys,

do any of you know how this magic trick works??

http://www.realmagic.net/dp/1-4.htm

I can't figure it out and it's driving me nuts!

 

[hardheart]

the border is thick enough to hide the fact that the two smaller triangles do not have the same angles

 

[DocNightfall]

The whole triangle has angles of 90, 22.62, and 67.38 degrees.
It has a total area of 32.5 squares = [(13*5)/2].

The yellow section has an area of 7 squares.
The green section has an area of 8 squares.
The blue section is made to appear as if it has an area of 5 squares.
The red section is made to appear as if it has an area of 12 squares.

That all adds up to 32. The blue and red squares do not actually have areas of 5 and 12 squares respectively. This is an illusion created by the drawn hypotenuse being very thick. This conceals the fact that the points shared by the blue and red triangles both before and after the shuffle do not actually fall on intersections of grid lines.

That accounts for half of the lost square.

For the other half, pay attention to the hypotenuse while the shapes are being shuffled around. The entire triangle gets bigger.

 

[jill jackson]

I sense that this thread will be magically moved.

 

[Neon Ninja Nightmare]

the border is thick enough to hide the fact that the two smaller triangles do not have the same angles

I don't get it. What do the angles have to do with it?

 

[Neon Ninja Nightmare]

The whole triangle has angles of 90, 22.62, and 67.38 degrees.
It has a total area of 32.5 squares = [(13*5)/2].

The yellow section has an area of 7 squares.
The green section has an area of 8 squares.
The blue section is made to appear as if it has an area of 5 squares.
The red section is made to appear as if it has an area of 12 squares.

That all adds up to 32. The blue and red squares do not actually have areas of 5 and 12 squares respectively. This is an illusion created by the drawn hypotenuse being very thick. This conceals the fact that the points shared by the blue and red triangles both before and after the shuffle do not actually fall on intersections of grid lines.

That accounts for half of the lost square.

For the other half, pay attention to the hypotenuse while the shapes are being shuffled around. The entire triangle gets bigger.

Oh, now I get it. I had to re-read your post a couple of times before it started to make sense. Thank you!

 

[Kaizen1]

When your 1st post on a knife forum has absolutely nothing to do with knives, don't be surprised when/if the mods label this as spam.

 

[Cougar Allen]

I sense that this thread will be magically moved.

That's not really magic. I use a truck.

 

[Neon Ninja Nightmare]

That's not really magic. I use a truck.

Sorry about starting out with an off topic post. I guess I wasted my chances to make a good first impression.