• Question: Can flames have shadows and why?

    Asked by megansaurus to Davie, Gemma, James P, James V, Nuala on 27 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: James Verdon

      James Verdon answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      Hi megansaurus,

      I’m not sure that they can. For two reasons:

      Shadows are formed by things blocking out the light. So where my body blocks the sunlight, there will be a shadow behind me. However, flames produce light, so the area behind the flame is lit up by the flame, so you wouldn’t have a shadow there, if that makes sense. Additionally, I’m not sure flames can block out light. To from a shadow, you have to have something that blocks light, and I don’t know if flames are solid enough to block light.

      Perhaps you can do an experiment – take a box of matches outside on a sunny day (be careful!!) and light one, and see if it creates a shadow work. That’s how science works – if you want to find something out, design an experiment to work it out.

    • Photo: James Pope

      James Pope answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      Hi megansaurus,

      I agree with James V, I think the shadows people see when they are around flames and fires are because it is often dark and so they are seeing the change from light to dark to light caused as the flame flickers and changes how much light it emits in a certain direction.

      It is certainly a bit eerie around a fire late at night, I used to really enjoy that time, when I was camping when I was in the Scouts when I was younger!

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