Night is Earth's Shadow? Negative!

[Hyun18]

I came across this post on Facebook [i'm the one circled in yellow] :

Those comments just pain me....

I'm not the only one right?
I mean, you can't really call the dark side of an object a shadow. It's more like a silhouette.
What do you think?

Edited August 18, 2013 by Hyun18

[Klaynos]

This is more of a linguistic question than a physics one, the Google definishion would agree with you as it mentions a surface onto which the shadow is cast, but the Wikipedia first line is more general saying an area blocked of light from some source.

[Moontanman]

I came across this post on Facebook [i'm the one circled in yellow] :

Those comments just pain me....

 

I'm not the only one right?

I mean, you can't really call the dark side of an object a shadow. It's more like a silhouette.

What do you think?

 

 

 

 

In the case of the Earth you are incorrect, night time is the Earth's shadow...

[EdEarl]

 

sil·hou·ette[sil-oo-et] Show IPA noun, verb, sil·hou·et·ted, sil·hou·et·ting.

noun

1.

a two-dimensional representation of the outline of an object, as a cutout or configurational drawing, uniformly filled in with black, especially a black-paper, miniature cutout of the outlines of a famous person's face.

2.

the outline or general shape of something: the slim silhouette of a skyscraper.

3.

a dark image outlined against a lighter background.

verb (used with object)

4.

to show in or as if in a silhouette.

5.

Printing. to remove the background details from (a halftone cut) so as to produce an outline effect.

 

 

shad·ow[shad-oh] Show IPA

noun

1.

a dark figure or image cast on the ground or some surface by a body intercepting light.

2.

shade or comparative darkness, as in an area.

3.

shadows, darkness, especially that coming after sunset.

[J.C.MacSwell]

I came across this post on Facebook [i'm the one circled in yellow] :

Those comments just pain me....

 

I'm not the only one right?

I mean, you can't really call the dark side of an object a shadow. It's more like a silhouette.

What do you think?

 

 

I agree. We are in the Earth's shade, but not in or on the Earth's shadow IMO.

[Nisslbody]

This is mostly a semantic issue.

 

When the sun is setting, the slope on the eastern side of a mountain is in shadow. It is, in fact, in the mountain's own shadow. In that context the shadow is the shade itself. Is night the Earth's shadow? You could, playing with language, state it that way, using both "night" and "shadow" as nouns. It would probably be more semantically accurate to make one or the other a verb, and say that night is the state of being in the Earth's shadow, or that night is the part of the earth that is being shaded.

 

Since the sillhouette of the Earth is cast, from any given perspective, by the Earth's horizon, any inhabitant of Earth is in the Earth's shadow at night.

[zapatos]

This is more of a linguistic question than a physics one, the Google definishion would agree with you as it mentions a surface onto which the shadow is cast, but the Wikipedia first line is more general saying an area blocked of light from some source.

So how far away does the 'surface onto which the shadow is cast' have to be from the object blocking the light? Is it a shadow if it is cast on the moon? How about if it is cast on the ISS? What if it is cast onto my face?

 

It seems to me that anything above the surface of the earth is cast in shadow.

[John Cuthber]

When everyone has had their say in this thread, will the world have changed as a result?

[zapatos]

When everyone has had their say in this thread, will the world have changed as a result?

No, but the same can be said for every single thread that is started on this site. People have their say because they enjoy it, not because they are changing the world.

[Moontanman]

No, but the same can be said for every single thread that is started on this site. People have their say because they enjoy it, not because they are changing the world.

 

 

I don't know zapatos, my world shook when I found out John had the biggest penis in the world, I am in 2nd place now, Anthony Wiener is in third, I guess that leaves you bringing up 4th place...

[zapatos]

I don't know zapatos, my world shook when I found out John had the biggest penis in the world, I am in 2nd place now, Anthony Wiener is in third, I guess that leaves you bringing up 4th place...

So is John a barnacle, or a blue whale?

 

Barnacle

 

If you were an immobile creature unable to pursue mates outside of your immediate reach, it would make sense to have an accordion-like retractable hand-slapper that could explore the world for you, right? Well that’s just how the barnacle rolls. Not only can they make new penises (because they break sometimes - awesome!), barnacles can grow their tallywackers to be 5-10 times their own miniscule size.

 

Blue Whale

 

No surprise here, the biggest animal to ever exist on planet Earth also has the most fearsome meat-trident (we suppose dinosaurs may have had gigantic beef burritos, but dino-dongs weren’t bone, so they weren’t fossilized. So we’ll never know if our Jurassic Park fan fiction is scientifically accurate). Blue whales pack a bit over one Gheorghe Muresan (or 8 feet), which sounds impressive but is comparatively like a human being rocking just under 4 inches.

From my favorite science journal: http://www.maxim.com/funny/the-10-biggest-dicks-the-animal-kingdom

[J.C.MacSwell]

 

 

In the case of the Earth you are incorrect, night time is the Earth's shadow...

 

All just semantics but for those who insist it is incorrect to consider the dark side of the Earth not a shadow:

 

So when someone mentions your shadow, you immediately look at the dark side of yourself and not the ground?

 

Inconsistently with your opinion of the night side of the Earth, only consider the shadow cast upon the ground?

 

Both, wondering which shadow is being referred to?

[Ophiolite]

When everyone has had their say in this thread, will the world have changed as a result?

Yes. The Earth will be but a shadow of its former self.

[michel123456]

It is a language issue

 

In French there are 2 kinds of shadow:

"ombre propre" and "ombre portée". I don't know in English.

Edited August 19, 2013 by michel123456

[imatfaal]

It is a language issue

 

In French there are 2 kinds of shadow:

"ombre propre" and "ombre portée". I don't know in English.

 

 

That's the problem in a nutshell - shows one of the benefits of being multilingual. The difference in English is limited to the use of the definite/indefinite article or possessive pronoun

 

"That side of the mountain is in shadow" ombre propre - ie no article/pronoun

 

"That tree is in the shadow of the mountain" ombre portee - ie the shadow being cast/thrown - which correlates with the French idea of range/reach

 

I think it is slightly inelegant English to refer to the night being earth's shadow - but really not very important as we don't (to the best of my knowledge) have the differentiation that French has.