j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar


Can shadows move faster than light?
Not really. There is nothing moving sideways, so nothing is moving faster than light (which, incidentally, mean you can't use shadows to communicate faster than light).
But the edges of the projection of the shadow can indeed appear to move arbitrarily fast.

Many dots move away radially from a centre to represent light. At a distance s small screen block part of the dots/light and move around, with the shape of the shadow following with a lag.

j_bertolotti,
@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz avatar

Released into the #PublicDomain and uploaded to #WikimediaCommons, together with the #Mathematica script used to generate it: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shadow_faster_than_light.webm

jrekier,

@j_bertolotti reminds me of this by T. Pratchett

« The only thing known to go faster than ordinary light is monarchy, according to the philosopher Ly Tin Wheedle. He reasoned like this: you can't have more than one king, and tradition demands that there is no gap between kings, so when a king dies the succession must therefore pass to the heir instantaneously.

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