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Name: Isobelle
Status: student	
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Question:
Are there any mathematical concepts involved in measuring the casting of shadows of an object? What are they? And do the concepts apply for every shape of an object, like for example, a square and a circle, or an object that has an irregular shape, will the same method be used to measure it?


Replies:
Trigonometry, the mathematics of angles, has direct application to the lengths etc. of shadows.

Vince Calder

You can use geometry with the casting of shadows. Consider wht a shadow is: blocked light. Light is blocked when something is directly between the light source and the position on the wall. Beams of light that can travel in a straight line from source to wall will not be blocked. Beams that hit the object do not continue to the wall. If you sketch the source, object, and wall, you can use a string or a pencil to fond the boundary of the shadow. You can use geometry to calculate the size of the shadow.

Kenneth Mellendorf


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