Light & Shadow Studio

This simulation lets students experiment with shadows. They drag a yellow lamp around a table and drag the sphere, cube and cone to new places. Sliders set the lamp height and the lamp size, and further controls show or hide light rays and change shadow darkness. A low lamp throws long shadows and a high one throws short ones; a tiny lamp makes a sharp edge, while a large lamp makes a dark center and a soft half-shadow. Readouts show the cone's shadow length, the lamp angle, the penumbra width and the type of shadow edge. It supports lessons on light traveling in straight lines, shadow length and similar triangles.

• Drag the lamp to the left, then right, and watch the cone's shadow swing the other way.
• Lower Lamp height and compare the Cone shadow length readout with a high lamp.
• Raise Lamp size and look for a dark core surrounded by a lighter edge.
• Move an object close to the table edge and see how its shadow changes.
• Turn Light rays on and off to see the straight lines from the lamp past each object.

1. 1Explain that shadows form because light travels in straight lines and is blocked.
2. 2Describe how lamp height changes shadow length.
3. 3Distinguish the umbra from the penumbra.
4. 4Predict how a shadow moves when the light source moves.

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