BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The concept of the fourth dimension can be a difficult one to comprehend. Although experimental physicists are now looking for ways to prove the existence of 4-D, often instructors do not approach the subject in class because they are not sure how to teach it.
Narendra Jaggi, Illinois Wesleyan University professor and chair of the physics department, and his student Andy Nelson are looking for ways to help bring the fourth spatial dimension into the classroom.
Jaggi draws two squares on a dry erase board in a classroom at the University’s Center for Natural Science. “You can’t really build a cube on a blackboard because the board is two dimensional and the cube is three dimensional,” said Jaggi, connecting the corners of the squares with lines. “But, you can draw a representation of a cube, so you have the perception of three dimensions.” Drawing on that idea, Jaggi and Nelson, an Illinois Wesleyan senior physics and religion double major from Mahomet, Ill., began to conquer the questions: Could there be a fourth spatial dimension and how can you display that in a three-dimensional world?
Jaggi and Nelson took the idea of creating a cube, and built upon it. “We wanted to create a model to replicate the fourth dimension in a spatial way. The goal was to create a teaching tool to help visualize 4D,” said Nelson.