Creative Corner Club

Sun and Shadow

How to play

Drag the sun to change the light, or use the position controls. Try different shapes. In Find the light, place your guess using the shadow as a clue, then check it.

Five things happen at once

Light does not just make one side bright and the other dark. On a round object there are always five parts, and the surprise is this: the darkest part is not the edge. It sits just before it, in a band called the core shadow — because the very edge catches light bouncing back up off the ground.

The other rule worth carrying around: a shadow always points straight away from the light, and it is darkest where the object touches the ground. The lower the sun, the longer the shadow — which is why your own shadow is enormous in the evening.