I'm making an art project where the main idea is to create an illusion of a collapsible chair floating in a bleak lake with me on it. How can I make this work with physics?
I was considering using some sort of floating device (inflatable), and weighing it down slightly with something hanging from it, and plopping a chair on there. Or if that's too unstable, creating a frame around that and weigh it down so it dips beneath the surface. Do you have a better idea?
One way I can think of is to use a mirror or something reflective that is placed in front of a platform that have the collapsible chair fixed on to as you need.
The mirror needs to be placed at a certain angle so that the viewer see whats reflected by the mirror, and, see what actual is "in front of the mirror". This would cover what's behind.
Thanks buddy! I will look into that. My first thought is that this would be reflecting the sky, but if I can angle it toward the water somehow, it would work nicely. Do not want to crush a mirror in the water and damage the ecosystem, so will have to be careful.
A few magicians have done "walking on water" stunts over the years, and the general consensus is that they're doing it by having a sheet of plexiglass suspended just below the surface, somehow. Having it below the surface means the water surface ripples etc. are mostly unaffected.
I'd find a relatively shallow lake, and hammer 4 wooden stakes into the lake bed (power tools for post-hammering exist), until the tops are just below the surface. You could start with longer-than-needed wooden stakes, hammer them in a bit, cut off the extra and then hammer the final distance. I suppose you could skip the plexiglass and put the chair legs directly onto the stakes, if they were positioned well enough.
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[ 1.9 ms ] story [ 7.6 ms ] threadI was considering using some sort of floating device (inflatable), and weighing it down slightly with something hanging from it, and plopping a chair on there. Or if that's too unstable, creating a frame around that and weigh it down so it dips beneath the surface. Do you have a better idea?
Idea prototype: https://i.imgur.com/eorUbxr.png
Or you try to reproduce this kind of principle https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YCHvpf2gDIk/maxresdefault.jpg or the "levitating man" that can often be seen on the streets.
The helping structure can be aligned along the chair's backside-face and just needs a fixing beneath the water
A few magicians have done "walking on water" stunts over the years, and the general consensus is that they're doing it by having a sheet of plexiglass suspended just below the surface, somehow. Having it below the surface means the water surface ripples etc. are mostly unaffected.
I'd find a relatively shallow lake, and hammer 4 wooden stakes into the lake bed (power tools for post-hammering exist), until the tops are just below the surface. You could start with longer-than-needed wooden stakes, hammer them in a bit, cut off the extra and then hammer the final distance. I suppose you could skip the plexiglass and put the chair legs directly onto the stakes, if they were positioned well enough.