Shadow Amplifier

[YT2095]

a thought occured to me just during a coffee break, I could see the cup on the table and it`s shadow, it`s shadow was longer (taller) than the cup but proportionaly the same.

now I`m wondering if you shine a light along a surface at a very gentle angle (like you`re 50 foot tall shadow at Sunset) the tinyest of details would be amplified along that axis several time, take a look at how long your shadow is at sunset and then stick out your finger, it may cast a 1 foot long shadow, and your finger maybe only a quarter of that length in reality, so right away you have a 4X "magnification"

so with a proper light source and surface to shine it on at an angle, could this be used as some sort of lensless microscope? maybe just for tiny surface details or movement?

[DV8 2XL]

"Oblique illumination, both through the microscope and in everyday life, enables light to strike an object at a low glancing angle with a resulting shadow effect on one side of the object. The other side is illuminated with the oblique light rays to produce an apparent relief detail on the object that stands out with three-dimensional clarity."

 

 

See the rest at:

 

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/intelplay/obliquetrans.html

[YT2095]

Hmmm.. although Very interesting, it`s not quite the same thing I`m thinking off, these pics seem to be still looking at the Object itself, I`m not thinking of the object, only it`s shadow.

that device as impressive as it is, still uses lenses to view the object. the way I`m thinking of doesn`t need a lens exactly, simply the way light itself seems to behave when "spread" after an object, making the shadow the Amplified part, and thus showing edges in greater detail

 

it might be a totaly cr4p idea for all I know, but it seems to work on almost any realistic scale

[DV8 2XL]

Ah, what you are looking for is called a shadowgraph or sometimes a shadowscope used for inspection and fine measurements on very small parts in (at least) the aerospace industry. Google the first term for more than you ever wanted to know about the subject.

 

I should have read your question with more care (but it was early in the morning)

[YT2095]

Neat!, ok so I`ve re-invented the wheel again LOL, but who cares, it wasn`t a wasted thought!

 

thanks for that

[MattC]

Shadows have fuzzy edges, don't they? Light bends a little as it goes around edges, so the further from the source (ie if you use it to amplify an imagine ... you want the shadow to be far from the source, for more amplification) the edges would be more blurred.

 

Since humans have so little mass, maybe the bending is minute and not on a scale that would affect most applications of this. Try it out, let us know!

[YT2095]

well it Was all based around a coffee cup on my desk, I couldn`t possibly comment on such things as to it`s mass (perhaps 400grams?).

 

anyway, it was just a thought

[DV8 2XL]

Neat!, ok so I`ve re-invented the wheel again LOL, but who cares, it wasn`t a wasted thought!

 

No indeed it wasn't. When this happens to me though I feel a sense of communion with the person that did think of it first, and really when you think of it; the fun part is getting the idea, I'll pass on the "90% perspiration" as Edison said.