What Causes a Shadow to Stretch or Shrink?

Shadows stretch and shrink because of where the light is. Imagine you're outside with a friend, and both of you are standing under a bright lamp. If the lamp is close to you, your shadow is small. But if it moves far away, like during sunrise or sunset, your shadow gets long and stretched out, just like when you play with shadows in the park.

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Examples

  1. Your shadow is long when you're near a streetlight at night.
  2. A tree casts a short shadow at noon but a long one in the evening.
  3. You see your friend’s shadow stretch out on the sidewalk as they walk away from a lamp.

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Categories: Physics · shadow· light· geometry