Circular Motion Illusion

About This Illusion

Circular Motion Illusion is an interactive educational simulation that demonstrates how circular motion creates linear oscillations. Each dot appears to move in a circle, but is actually only moving back and forth along a straight line. This is the foundation of trigonometry—sine and cosine functions describe how a point's coordinates change as it moves around a circle. It is part of the BioniChaos collection of biomedical signal processing tools and visualizations.

Try different modes to see how this connects to wave functions. The "illusion" shows multiple dots on spokes, while "sine wave" and "cosine wave" show how the vertical and horizontal positions create wave patterns over time.

You can drag the blue point on the circle to control the animation manually in most modes.

How to Use

Future Directions

For more interactive simulations and resources, visit bionichaos.com.