• Question: What are shadows made of?

    Asked by sgrover to Amy, Drew, Julia, Kimberley, Sara on 20 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by anon-14648, cai192546.
    • Photo: Amy MacQueen

      Amy MacQueen answered on 19 Jun 2011:

      Shadows aren’t really “made” of anything as such. When light hits a solid object most of it is reflected off the object so its not getting through and that lack of light causes the darkness of a shadow. As someone once said “there is no such thing as darkness – just the absence of light”.

      Light can get through glass which is why windows don’t cast a shadow!! 🙂

    • Photo: Sara Imari Walker

      Sara Imari Walker answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      Hello sgrover! Amy is absolutely right! Shadows are in fact caused by the absence of light. You can test it out by moving a light source such as a flashlight around a room. Check out where the shadows are cast – they are always on the opposite side of where the light is shining!

    • Photo: Julia Griffen

      Julia Griffen answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      Shadows aren’t made of anything… there are areas that light cannot reach to hench appearing duller or darker.

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