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Square Illusions


SquareIllusionsLines

In the above figure, the identical squares A, B, C appear different in width and height, because subdividing a space makes it appear larger.

SquareIllusionsOrientation

A different orientation can also produce an illusion of enlargement. As illustrated above, a square whose diagonals are placed horizontally and vertically seems larger when put beside an identical square with horizontal and vertical sides.

SquareIllusionsHorizontal

Vertical lines appear longer than horizontal ones. For this reason, the square B in the illustration above seems to be too tall, while the rectangle A appears to be a correctly drawn square.


See also

Square, Square-in-a-Circle Illusion, Vertical-Horizontal Illusion

This entry contributed by Margherita Barile

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References

Carraher, R. G. and Thurston, J. B. Optical Illusions and the Visual Arts. New York: Reinhold, 1966.

Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha

Square Illusions

Cite this as:

Barile, Margherita. "Square Illusions." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource, created by Eric W. Weisstein. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/SquareIllusions.html

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