• Question: does fire have a shadow

    Asked by anon-245263 to Ondrej, Jordan, Eleanor, Ed, Christine, Alice on 18 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Edward Banks

      Edward Banks answered on 18 Mar 2020:

      It can have a shadow but it’ll be pretty faint! Fire is usually just very hot air- and shadows are cast by things blocking light. As air doesn’t block that much light normally, it doesn’t cast a shadow. But the air in a flame can be very distorted, which may lead to a very faint shadow.
      But this is an experiment you can actually try at home- with your parents’ help! Get a candle and a torch and see what you can see.

    • Photo: Eleanor Jones

      Eleanor Jones answered on 18 Mar 2020:

      It could have a shadow, as Ed has explained, but it will be pretty faint since fire won’t block out much light.

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