Why does the wheel of a fast moving car looks like it twirls back for moment and back to the front again?
In: Physics
We detect motion by comparing the position of two objects within a frame. In rotational motion, our brains checks to see how close the spokes are to their old positions to determine the direction of motion. However, when a wheel is spinning fast enough, the position of the next spoke is closer to where the previous spoke tricking the brain into thinking that it is the previous spoke and it move backwards a little bit. As the wheel’s rotational speed increase, the next spoken moves past the position of the previous spoke, restoring the perception of forward motion.
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