What Makes a Shadow ‘Sharp’ or ‘Fuzzy’?

Imagine you're holding a pencil in front of a lightbulb. If the bulb is close, your shadow looks sharp, like it’s cut out from paper. But if the bulb is far away, your shadow gets fuzzy, almost like it’s melting. This happens because light spreads out as it travels.

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Examples

A small lamp close to your face casts a sharp shadow on the wall.
The sun creates a fuzzy shadow of a tree on the ground because it's far away.
Your shadow under a streetlight becomes more blurry when you move farther from it.

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Categories: Physics · light,shadows,optics