Tag Archives: shadows

Chapter 27 Lab #73: Students will investigate the nature and formation of shadows.

Purpose
In this activity, students will estimate the diameter of the sun.
Discussion
Take notice of the round spots of light on the shady ground beneath trees. These are sunballs—images of the sun. They are cast by openings between leaves in the trees that act as pinholes. The diameter of a sunball depends on its distance from the [...]

PurposeIn this activity, students will observe images formed by a simple convex lens and compare cameras with and without a lens.
Discussion
The first camera used a pinhole opening to let light in. Because the hole is so small, light rays that enter cannot overlap. This is why a clear image is formed on the inner back [...]

Shadows are ubiquitous, but often go unnoticed. Shadows are important historically, for they provided early evidence that light travels in straight lines. Humans constantly, but unconsciously, use shadows to judge the shape of objects in their environment. Because shadows reveal much about an object’s extension in space, they are often used to heighten the illusion of depth in a painting.