Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Do shadows weigh anything?

Shadows weigh nothing, say our readers - but they can alter the weight of objects they are cast over

9 August 2023

Ezra Bailey

Ezra Bailey/Getty Images

Do shadows weigh anything? And do they affect the weight of objects they are cast over?

Ron Dippold
San Diego, California, US

Shadows weigh nothing but can have apparent negative weight.

Consider what a shadow is: it is the lack of photons (light) bouncing off an area relative to the lit areas around it. Photons have no rest mass, but they do have energy – as encapsulated in the equation E = mc2. A stream of photons delivers a force in the direction of travel when it bounces off a surface, as does a stream of water hitting an object.…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with Âé¶¹´«Ã½ events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, today with our introductory offers

or

Existing subscribers

Sign in to your account
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop