Things To Try

Point your kaleidoscope towards the flashlight or other light source and look through the hole in the construction paper.  You should see a large pattern of reflected objects.

Rotate the kaleidoscope to rearrange the objects and create a new pattern.

How It Works

Mirrors work by reflecting light.  When you look at an object's reflection through a mirror, the reflection looks as if it is located exactly where the object would see it if the object was able to see through the mirror.  That is, the mirror itself becomes a line of symmetry between the object's actual location and the reflection that you see.  If two or more mirrors are angled towards each other, the reflection itself may have a reflection with respect to the second mirror, and multiple images of the object can be seen.

For the viewer located at the bottom of the figure above, the reflection of the object looks as if it is located at the blue star, the mirror image of the object itself with respect to the horizontal mirror.  The green star is the mirror image of that first reflection with respect to the diagonal mirror, and the object has a second reflection when the viewer looks into the diagonal mirror.  In your kaleidoscope [1], light reflects off the three mirrors dozens of times, leading to dozens of reflections of the objects inside.

The section of a kaleidoscope that holds the small objects inside is called the object cell.  The entire interior of your kaleidoscope acts as its object cell, but many kaleidoscopes have a piece of glass or clear plastic that holds the objects inside next to the end where the light shines through.

Fun Facts

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References