If you shine a laser through the Queen’s face on the new £5 note it will reveal something amazing
Scientist Steve Mould reveals all in his latest YouTube video
WHEN it comes to the new £5 note, there’s a lot to get excited about.
The plastic fiver is harder to tear, can survive a spin in the washing machine, and could be worth a fortune.
If you’ve got one in your wallet, and have managed to resist the temptation to auction it off on eBay, you may want to try shining a laser through it.
Scientist Steve Mould tried pointing the little red light through the Queen’s neck in his latest , and unveiled a secret star field.
He told the cameras: “Naturally the first thing I did was to shine a laser through the Queen’s face. And I wasn’t disappointed with the results.
“If you shine a laser pointer through just the right point on the Queen’s neck then projected on the opposite wall you’ll see a triangular star field. The question is, is this a deliberate security feature?”
Apparently, if you shine a laser through Canada's polymer bank note it projects a maple leaf with the note's value onto the opposite wall.
This is clearly deliberate - but Steve thinks the new fiver's feature is a side effect of how the Queen's face is printed.
Steve then goes on to explain the science behind the surprising feature.
He added: “Under a microscope you see a triangular grid of ink dots. So we what see projected on the wall is counter-intuitive.
“You might imagine shining a light through that grid of ink dots and those ink dots blocking the light.
“So surely we would see projected on the wall a grid of dark spots? But we don’t, we see the opposite. We see a grid of light spots.
“And that’s because what we’re witnessing here is the wave nature of light.
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“When that wave front of laser light passes over those dots, through the other side there is created a number of wave fronts that interfere with each other.
“I do recommend when you get hold of one of these new £5 notes, shine a laser through the Queen’s neck and see the star field it creates.”
Will you be trying it?