Optical Illusion of The Day: Which is Darker | Gray Illusion

Posted: 16 Dec 2015 07:08 AM PST

Okay, so I was going through the Mighty Optical Illusions email, and I ran across an interesting submission from Ant Dude. (Yes – Ant Dude.) He sent me a pretty cool image asking me which was darker—the left side of the right side?

gray illusion which is darker

Being the inquisitive little squirrel that I am, I couldn’t help but check it out a little further. And, Ant Dude, my first reaction is to say that the left side is darker. With this being an optical illusion site and all, though, I know it’s not as simple as that!

So, I went to the source he sent me. Cover the line in the center of the image with your finger or a pencil. Now which darker—the left or right side?

When you cover the center of the image, you can see that it isn’t a question of which is darker; both sides are technically the same color. This gray illusion is simply made with two gradient rectangles placed next to each other, with the darker side of the gradients on the right side of each rectangle. The left side only looks darker, because the darker side of the gradient on that rectangle is placed right next to the lighter side of the other rectangle.

*PEEEW…*

I just blew your mind, didn’t I? No? Well, I tried…

When you get done trying to figure out this gray illusion, head over and try to see which is darker on THIS illusion!

The post Which is Darker | Gray Illusion appeared first on Mighty Optical Illusions.

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