

When they are explaining Dimension W, it is represented as the negative side
of the X axis. Why is Dimension W negative X? Is it not really it's own
dimension?

[![Picture from Dimension W
anime](https://i.stack.imgur.com/n3uZP.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/n3uZP.jpg)


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2016-02-25T23:15:55.993
30054
2016-04-05T08:01:42.333
17758
question
dimension-w
Why is Dimension W negative X?


As @NendoTaka has mentioned, it's pretty hard to draw a 4d object on a 2d
surface.

Here's how dimensionality work:

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/dbYRo.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/dbYRo.png)

with a single dimension, a point is sent out infinitely, creating a line (See
X)

in 2d, we add a dimension perpendicular to that (See X,Y).

Then, we go perpendicular again and expand upwards to get the third
dimension(See X,Y,Z).

Because 3d > 2d, we can't represent that well on paper without folding the
paper or adding more sheets on top of it - all really impractical for viewing
on a screen. So, instead we use perspective - how our eyes perceive 3d.
Usually the angles here are ~30 degrees.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wiexA.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wiexA.gif)

And that looks pretty okay, [because our eyes don't see in this traditional 3d
sense](https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/74112/as-3-dimensional-
beings-do-we-really-have-3-dimensional-vision), so mimicking that works. But,
when we want to represent a 4th dimension, we don't have something to compare
that to. We need to go perpendicular again and this is hard for our eyes to
comprehend as we don't have much of a reference.

Here's an example depiction of a 4th dimension:

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/cm1Kg.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/cm1Kg.png)

This is a more correct way to display the dimension, but it still relies on
perspective - also it isn't immediately obvious that it is a new dimension on
first glance.

The animators probably chose to do something simple that would be easier to
animate. Although, if you rotate the above image, the X and W dimensions could
overlap - and this wouldn't be obvious in the image without arrow pointers.

So yeah, they are wrong - but there's also not a simple way to represent 4
dimensions on a single sheet of paper

[Coordinate Image sources & a good
read](http://eusebeia.dyndns.org/4d/vis/01-intro)


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2016-04-04T18:03:12.493
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2016-04-05T08:01:42.333
2017-04-13T12:40:17.727
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answer