The reason of enlargement of Leitai ancient well

The ancient well more than 1,800 years ago was able to enlarge the money and become greedy. The matter became more and more heretical in the local area. People ran to see what had happened. Of course, many kind men and women come here to make a wish, thinking that this is an epiphany of the gods, so they all put money into it. There will soon be enough money to cover the bottom of the well. As a result, the staff often have to go down and take out the money. When I took it out, I found that the money had not changed at all. Why? Whether it is input or withdrawal, the size of the money itself does not seem to change. Therefore, if the money gets bigger in the well, it will get bigger when it is taken out, which will be abnormal, and the well will become a magnifying glass for printing counterfeit money. But this is not the case. How old should I be when I grow up? What people see is only a visual amplification effect brought by the ancient well. But we all know that the near is big and the far is small: the near things naturally look big, and the far things naturally look small. Even the same object, such as the sun, looks small, but if it is not afraid of heat, the real sun is many times larger than the earth where we live. So it seems that this matter should be related to the ancient well itself: either its structure is special, or its environment is special, and perhaps it is closely related to other factors.

Disappointingly, there is no record about this ancient well in Wuwei County Records, and no one will find this strange phenomenon even if there is water in the well. But Zhang believes that all this is related to the special architectural structure of this well. Accurately speaking, this is a well made of Han bricks, and no bonding material is used between bricks. After thousands of years of well water immersion, most of the bricks on the wall have been severely weathered, and only the bottom hole is well preserved. And the strangest thing is that after measurement, the diameters of the wellhead, the middle and the bottom of the well are different. In other words, this well is waist-drum-shaped, with more than one protruding, which is different from the well we usually see going straight up and down.

Zhang, former director of Leitai Park Management Office: The thickness of this well is different from top to bottom, and the inner diameter is also different. Does this also play the role of refracting light, thus playing the role of amplification?

At a depth of about one meter from the bottom of the well, the wall brick has been repaired into a strange herringbone. It's all about the enlargement of money, isn't it? Zhang began to do experiments repeatedly, but almost every time he felt that the money falling into the bottom of the well was really magnified! Is it really 1800 years ago that the ancients did it on purpose?

Former director of Zhangleitai Park Management Office: They thought that when the ancients built a well, it was to enlarge it. It's like a good wish to lose money with people who burn incense now. In fact, this is their own good wish.

If this speculation is true, then the reason for the mysterious amplification is probably the strange structure in the well, which causes the refraction of light, thus forming a magnifying glass invisible to the naked eye at the bottom of the well. However, is this statement really true?

Lu Sihua, a professor at Peking University Institute of Physics: This should be groundless. I don't think it will have any impact. Because it will not cause substantial changes in light, there must be an optical path difference from an optical point of view. So what is the optical path and what is the optical path difference? Let me explain to you that the so-called optical path refers to the refractive index multiplied by the distance. Of course, this distance sounds awkward to everyone. This distance can have many meanings. Take this magnifying glass as an example. We know that the magnifying glass itself is a convex lens, which plays a magnifying role. Everyone knows that the magnifying glass is thick in the middle and thin on both sides. What about the light path in the middle? It is equivalent to the thickness of the middle multiplied by its refractive index. And it must be thinner on both sides. Then its optical path value is relatively small. In this way, the optical path in the middle is large and the optical paths on both sides are small, and the concept of optical path difference appears. Remember, as long as you can zoom in. It is necessary to have such an optical path difference to play an amplification role. In this way, the structure of the well itself seems to be independent of the optical path and optical path difference. However, some friends may think that it is not that the well is not built straight up and down, but has a certain convex curvature, like a waist drum. Take a closer look. For example, friends in Beijing can go to the Central Tower to have a closer look. Friends from other places can see some historic sites or TV towers. You will find a phenomenon, whether it is this tower, monument or chimney. Especially the extremely high chimney is definitely not straight up and down, which always gives you the feeling that there is something wrong with this worker when he is building, and it protrudes from the middle. Experts explained that people actually did this on purpose. The purpose of this is to enhance the seismic capacity of the building and improve its robustness. Construction experts believe that the purpose of designing the well into this waist drum structure is also to be stronger, which has nothing to do with expansion. So, what is the reason for the amplification effect of greedy Gu Jing?

The mystery of the expansion of the ancient well has never really been solved. Is it really the apparition of the owner of the tomb? More and more good men and women are coming, and the incense of Leitai view is getting more and more prosperous. However, Zhang disagreed with this statement. On this day, he suddenly thought of another problem.

Former director of Zhangleitai Park Management Office: I got off, my head was very cold, and the temperature at the bottom of the well was also very cold. Zhang vaguely remembers that the humidity at the bottom of the well seems to be greater than that on the well. So, does this have anything to do with the formation of amplification effect? He decided to measure the temperature and humidity at the bottom of the well.

First, the staff hoisted the thermometer into the bottom of the well. According to the measurement, the bottom temperature is 65438 04℃ and the humidity is 12%. Their measurements on the ground show that the temperature of the pyramid-shaped mound is 65438 03℃ and the humidity is 8%. That is to say, the temperature is not much different, but the humidity in the well is much higher than the ground.

Not only that, they also found some dry bryophytes at the bottom of the well, which is enough to show that the bottom of the well is really wet. So, is there any connection between the humid air environment at the bottom of the well and the formation of amplification effect?

Professor Lu, Peking University Institute of Physics: Air also has its optical path, which is also its refractive index multiplied by its thickness. So if the bottom hole is to cause amplification, it must be the central part, and its optical path is relatively large.

In other words, as long as there are some elements, a very wonderful "air convex lens" will be formed in the air to enlarge the object. Because the air at the bottom of the well is almost not circulating, what conditions should be met to make the optical path difference appear and form a natural magnifying glass?

The higher the temperature of the air, the larger the volume of a certain mass of air will be. Why? This is because the molecular movement is accelerated, so its density naturally becomes lower, so the whole volume becomes larger. If the air is in a relatively cold environment, under a certain quality. There is no doubt that the molecular movement is not so intense. It will be denser and smaller. So think about it, this environment. Look carefully at this photo of the well, which was taken from the ground to the top. There is no doubt that the temperature around the well, that is, around the borehole wall, is high relative to the center of the well. Why? Because this well belongs to a fountain well, not a seepage well. It is directly from the center of the well, the center of the bottom of the well, which is where we took this photo. There are springs gushing out there, so the temperature in this place must be cold. In this way, the air density in the middle becomes very large, while the density around it is relatively small. So there is no doubt that its refractive index is different. Think about it, everyone has studied physics. When we insert chopsticks into the water, there will be interesting refraction scenes. In the air, we can hardly notice it. So the higher the density, the higher the refractive index. So in this well, its depth is fixed, that is to say, the conditional distance that determines the optical path is fixed. Therefore, as long as the refractive index is larger, the value of this optical path is more likely. So the air in the middle is colder. So its density is high, so its refractive index is high. In this way, the refractive index in the middle is high and the refractive index around it is low. The value of the middle optical path is greater than that of the surrounding optical path. So there is an optical path difference. So ingenious, a natural air lens is formed. So it also has an amplification effect.

However, because Zhang uses a civil thermometer, it can't measure the precise changes of temperature and humidity at the center and edge of the bottom hole. Therefore, the argument that the difference in temperature and humidity leads to "air lens" is only theoretical speculation. Someone put forward another statement.

Yang Daoyong, editor of "We Love Science" magazine: If it is caused by humid air, there is no power for this humid air to maintain the shape of this lens. Most importantly, it can't keep this fixed shape because of the humidity. After comparing various factors, I think the lamp should be the most important role.

Due to the continuous heating of the bulb, the wellbore wall is gradually heated, and then the heated air is conducted from the wellbore wall to the middle layer of the well. Because of this conduction, the air temperature in the center of the well is obviously low, so an "air lens" is formed.

Yang Daoyong, editor of We Love Science magazine: We can also observe that hot air will refract light in our daily life. When observing the summer, you can see the flashing phenomenon when you look at the hood of a car or the asphalt floor heated by the sun.

Theoretically, these two reasons for the formation of "air lens" are very likely. The answer seems to be revealed like this. It is precisely because of all kinds of coincidences that the ancient wells in the thousand-year-old Han tombs have this strange amplification effect. Leitai view has also restored its former tranquility, and Taoist priests are still accompanied by the daily twilight drums and morning bells. However, will there be another way of saying it?

One day in June, 5438 +2006 10, the reporter of Approaching Science came to Leitai Han Tomb. After measurement, the depth from the opening in the middle of the well to the bottom of the well was 536 cm, so we measured the same distance in the tomb, and a staff member was ready to shoot with paper money in his hand. Because the standard lens of the camera is closest to the human physiological perspective and will not be deformed, we set the focal length to 50 cm, and then shoot the banknotes with the same face value on the ground and at the bottom of the well.

However, it is found that the banknotes on the ground and at the bottom of the well are actually the same size, so that is to say, this ancient well may not have any so-called amplification effect, and all this is just a joke played by nature. But why do almost all tourists think that money is really magnified?

Professor Lu, Peking University Institute of Physics: Two students once asked Confucius why the sun is big in the morning and small at noon. In fact, we now know that there is no difference between these two distances. So in fact, it is not the size difference caused by distance, but actually the visual difference, because the sky at noon has no reference, it is a white sky, and there are other reference objects such as trees and houses in the morning. However, can there be other reasons for this visual error? In fact, almost everyone has heard the legend that the magical ancient well will enlarge the paper money before coming, so there is a strong psychological hint first; And there are rumors that a dollar will become the size of a hundred dollars.

Yang Daoyong, editor of "We Love Science" magazine: Compared with one hundred yuan, you will find that the face value is a hundred times different, but the size is only one circle larger. If you put it in the middle, you will see such a big circle, but the difference is not so obvious. When you hear that you will turn a dollar into a hundred dollars, your expectations will be very high. You think you've magnified it many times, but it's actually magnified by 20%, a little bit.

It is precisely because of various chances that the mystery of the expansion of Leitai Gu Jing has become a coincidence that spans thousands of years. So are there any other visual errors in our life? Here are two boxes. It seems that the one on the right is bigger. However, when we remove the concentric circles around the right box, we will find that they are actually the same size.

This is a typical illusion. So this visual error is probably one of the reasons why people think that this well has amplification effect. Although the standard lens of this camera is very close to our physiological angle. But I'm afraid there are some subtle differences. So the reason why this well can enlarge coins is that we have considered it and consulted experts. Now we have summed up two, one may be because of the air lens; Another is the visual error we mentioned earlier. Which one should play a decisive role, we can't give you a definite answer for the time being. But in any case, we think this is definitely not a ghost phenomenon, and it can definitely be solved by scientific methods.