How Does Television Stone Work?
Summary
TLDRThe video explains the interesting optical properties of ulexite, a mineral nicknamed 'TV rock'. Ulexite can visually mimic images of objects placed underneath it due to an internal fiber optic-like effect. Light enters ulexite crystals at specific angles enabling total internal reflection along microscopic parallel tubes, transmitting a coherent image to its surface. The unique crystal structure also splits incoming light into defined pathways, emitting multiple conical beams that reveal themselves as rings of light. This generates ulexite's unusual ability to project layered images like a natural fiber optic cable and display.
Takeaways
- 😲 Ulexite is an optical mineral that can mimic whatever surface it is placed on, making it look like a 'chameleon rock'
- 🔍 The image seen on the surface of the ulexite is actually coming from the surface below it, as if the rock is a screen displaying the image
- 👀 The ability of ulexite to transfer images is due to tiny hair-like fibers inside that act as fiber optic cables to channel light
- 💡 The light transfer happens through a process called total internal reflection, based on differences in material densities
- ⚖️ Total internal reflection depends on the angle at which light hits the surface between two materials
- 📐 There is a 'critical angle' at which all the light is suddenly reflected instead of transmitted
- 😎 The fibers in ulexite act like glass fiber optic cables to bounce light through tiny high density crystal tubes
- 🔬 When laser light shines through ulexite, it often forms rings or cones due to the round shape and varying densities inside
- 🌈 Ulexite can split light into multiple cones because it is birefringent - its crystal structure has 3 different refractive indices
- 🤓 The discovery of image transfer through ulexite preceded research into fiber optics by about 80 years
Q & A
What causes the unique optical properties of ulexite?
-Ulexite has a fibrous internal structure made up of tiny aligned crystal tubes that act like fiber optic cables to transmit light via total internal reflection.
How is the image transfer ability of ulexite different from transparent materials like glass?
-Unlike transparent materials like glass that just let light pass through, ulexite actually transfers the image from the surface it is placed on to its own top surface, as if it is a screen.
What causes light to be partially reflected at an interface between two different materials?
-The difference in densities between two materials causes some of the light to be reflected back when hitting the interface, while some is transmitted through. This partial reflection occurs due to light being an electromagnetic wave.
What is the critical angle and how does it relate to total internal reflection in ulexite?
-The critical angle is the angle at which 100% of light hitting an interface gets reflected back instead of passing through. In ulexite, the crystal tubes use total internal reflection to bounce light down their length.
Why does shining light through ulexite sometimes produce ring-shaped outputs?
-Due to the asymmetric crystal structure of ulexite having different refractive indices, exiting light rays are bent differently, producing cone-shaped outputs that appear as rings.
When was ulexite first discovered and when was its light transmission ability studied?
-Ulexite was first discovered around 1840 but its fiber optic-like abilities weren't studied until the 1920s when total internal reflection in crystals was beginning to be understood.
How does the fiber optic-like behavior of ulexite relate to its molecular structure?
-The tiny aligned crystal tubes of ulexite act like glass fiber optic cables to transmit light, producing optical effects related to the asymmetry and variations in the crystal structure.
Why does ulexite display images from surfaces it is placed on?
-The dense crystal tubes transmit surface images via total internal reflection, causing the top surface of the ulexite to display whatever is below it.
What makes the image display ability of ulexite different from a typical transparent material?
-Unlike a transparent material that just passes light through, ulexite actually transfers and displays the surface image on its top side due to its unique internal light transmission properties.
Why weren't ulexite's fiber optic-like properties understood earlier?
-The fiber optic abilities of ulexite were not studied until the 1920s, even though it was discovered in the 1840s, because total internal reflection in crystals was not yet understood.
Outlines
😲 Ulexite stone acts like an optical display
The ulexite stone can optically mimic whatever surface it is placed on, making it look like a thin display or screen. This happens due to tiny hair-like fibers inside the stone acting as fiber optic cables to transmit light via total internal reflection. The effect makes the thick stone appear to have no depth.
👍 Affordable products from sponsor actually work well
The video creator tries some affordable products from sponsor Teemu and is impressed that they actually function as expected despite the low prices. Teemu has big sales and good policies like free shipping, price protection, and partial refunds. Viewers can get a coupon bundle and special offers using the link in the description.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡ulexite
💡total internal reflection
💡fibers
💡critical angle
💡refractive index
💡fiber optic cables
💡electromagnetic wave
💡birefringent
💡ray tracing
💡refraction
Highlights
Ulexite optically mimics whatever it's placed on, making it look like a chameleon rock.
The image seen on ulexite's surface is actually coming from below, as if the rock is a screen displaying the image underneath it.
Ulexite fibers act like tiny fiber optic cables, transmitting light from below to the surface through total internal reflection.
Total internal reflection happens when light hits between two materials with different densities at a specific "critical angle".
The ulexite crystals act like densely packed fiber optic cables, allowing an image to be transmitted clearly.
Ulexite's image transmission abilities were known since the 1800s, but how it worked via fiber optics wasn't understood until the 1920s.
Due to the fibers, light exiting ulexite forms a ring pattern rather than a solid circle.
The ring pattern happens because the exiting light rays form a cone that appears as a ring shape on a surface.
Multiple refractive indices in the ulexite crystal split light into "fast" and "slow" rays, forming multiple rings.
Sponsor highlight: Teemu has surprisingly good quality products at extremely low prices.
Light shining through a round object exits in a "V" shape from different angles, forming a cone and ring shape.
You can see the ring patterns by looking through the ulexite stone itself.
Ulexite's three different refractive indices bend light into "fast" and "slow" rays.
The ulexite crystal structure is asymmetric, leading to differing refractive indices along different axes.
Unique crystal structure and optics make ulexite an interesting and visually compelling natural phenomenon.
Transcripts
this is a rock called ulexite It Can
optically mimic anything that it's
placed
on look how it matches exactly what's
below it no matter where I put it it's
like it's a chameleon rock or
something it looks different than
something that's transparent like this
glass cube here notice that with the
glass cube you can easily see that
there's a stone below it that's shining
through the glass but with the UI it's
different the image is actually coming
from the surface of the stone the stone
inherits whatever image it's placed on
almost like it's a screen displaying
what's below it look how weird this
looks on the
carpet it looks like it's really
thin whereas compared to Glass you can
tell there's a material on top of it
kind of squishing the carpet it doesn't
look the same it's like we're watching a
screen displaying the footage from a
camera being pressed against the
material and for that reason people call
you Lex site television stone for
example look how cool it looks when I
set it on my phone it's as though the
stone is now a TV screen but really it's
just displaying what's below it this is
so cool because it transfers the image
to the top of the stone it makes it look
like the stone has no thickness like I
just put a thin plastic sheet in front
of my phone but it's actually really
thick well if you look at the side of
the ulx site you'll see that it looks
like there are a bunch of tiny hair like
fibers these fibers act like tiny little
Fiber Optic Cables so the light that you
see on the surface of the stone was
actually carried through these fibers
which act like tiny little pixels
similar to if you had an array of fiber
optic cables the way the light transfers
through these fibers is called total
internal reflection this happens when
light hits the surface at an angle
between two materials that have
different densities let's look at this
Ray simulator to show you I'll put some
glass on the bottom and air on the top
top notice that as I have this single
ray of light aim straight up it just
exits the glass but notice there's a
tiny little bit of light that gets
reflected whenever you have light moving
from one material to another that has
different densities there will be some
light that gets reflected back and some
light that gets transmitted this happens
because light is an electromagnetic wave
when a wave is moving through a material
that suddenly has a different density it
partially acts like a boundary that it
bounces off of you can see these waves
bouncing Within wave for example if I
take this Slinky I can wiggle it and
make a wave move down the slinky but if
I change the tension in the slinky at
one spot by putting this bar here then I
have one section of Slinky that's more
dense than the other so if I make a wave
moved down it you can see that some of
the wave passes through the boundary and
some gets reflected that's what happens
with light too with the light the amount
that gets reflected is very dependent on
the angle the light shined notice that
as I change the angle suddenly the light
doesn't ever exit the glass and it's
100% reflected this angle where it
suddenly gets 100% reflected is called
the critical angle you can see it easily
with this glass cube and a laser here if
the angle's too great then most of the
light exits the glass but if you get too
shallow suddenly it just reflects like a
mirror the ulexite just has a bunch of
long tubes of high density crystals
similar to Glass Fiber Optic Cables so
the light just bounces through the tubes
and exits because the tubes are so tiny
packed together we can see a picture
that's pretty clear if they were bigger
we wouldn't see a clear picture the
ability for uite to transfer an image
from the top to the bottom has been
known since its Discovery around 1840
but no one really looked into how it
worked so this was literally a fiber
optic cable right in front of their eyes
for everyone to see but it wasn't until
the 1920s before anyone started
understanding that crystals and glass
can transmit light through total
internal reflection like this because
because of the fact that these are tiny
little tubes transmitting the light
there's another weird thing that happens
to the light that comes out of the
fibers if I shine a laser light through
the rock it kind of does what you'd
expect and comes out as a bigger dot of
light on the back here but if I just
change the angle of the beam slightly
then the light is only concentrated on
the outer edge of the circle and it
makes a ring or in other words it makes
a cone of light that's empty in the
center if you change the angle a bit and
move to different places you can see two
or even three rings of light so why
would it make a ring of light well let's
start off with just the single ring
let's take something that we know is
round and reflects light off the sides
like this needle here if I shine the
laser through this needle I also get a
ring of light that appears but why is it
an unfilled Circle why isn't there
anything in between well let's do some
Ray tracing and see what's happening and
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let's get back to the experiment let's
say that I take a slice of our needle
and just look at it in two Dimensions
you can see when my light shines
straight through nothing interesting
happens but when I turn the light
slightly then it splits the light up
into a vshape this happens because at
the exit of the needle one part of light
is coming from One Direction and the
other part is coming from the other
direction so it splits it up now this V
is in two Dimensions if it were a real
needle then that V would become a cone
and when you shine a cone of light on a
wall it makes a ring so that's why we're
getting this ring shape but why can we
see multiple Rings well that's because
UI is TR Clinic meaning that its Crystal
isn't symmetric if you look at its
crystal lattice a doesn't equal B and B
doesn't equal C this makes the crystal
actually have three different refractive
indices so when you shine light through
the crystal it gets split up into rays
of light that are fast meaning it took
the path that had the lowest refractive
index and then slow light that took the
path that had the highest refractive
index because of these different
refractive indices it bends the light
slightly different when it exits the
tubes so the angles aren't the same so
the cones are split up into fast and
slow light you can even see these rings
when you look through the stone as
well and thanks for watching another
episode of the action lab I hope you
learn something if you haven't
subscribed to my channel yet remember to
hit that subscribe button and we'll see
you next
time
[Music]
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