Morning shadow and evening shadow

Learning outcome

You can place a morning or evening shadow, and you can turn that into the direction a person faces.

Concepts and reasons

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. A shadow points away from the sun. In the morning the sun is in the east, so a shadow falls to the west. In the evening the sun is in the west, so a shadow falls to the east. Left and right belong to the person. First find where the shadow falls. Then match that direction to the person left or right. A person who faces north has west on the left and east on the right. A person who faces south has east on the left and west on the right. So a morning shadow on the left means the shadow is west and the left is west: the person faces north. A morning shadow on the right means the right is west: the person faces south. An evening shadow on the right means the right is east: the person faces north. An evening shadow on the left means the left is east: the person faces south.

Worked examples

1. In the morning, the shadow of a pole falls west, because the sun is in the east.
2. In the evening, the shadow of a pole falls east, because the sun is in the west.
3. In the morning a person sees the shadow on the left. The shadow is west, so the left is west. A person with west on the left faces north.

Common traps

The shadow does not point at the sun. It points the other way. Morning is west. Evening is east. Swapping those two is the usual wrong option. Noon is not an east or west answer in this rule. Use the rule for morning and evening.

Practice questions

1. In the morning, which way does the shadow of a pole fall?
2. In the evening, which way does the shadow of a pole fall?
3. In the morning the shadow is on the right of a person. Which way does the person face?

Answers and explanations

1. West. The morning sun is in the east, and the shadow points away from it.
2. East. The evening sun is in the west, and the shadow points away from it.
3. South. The morning shadow is west, so the right side is west. West on the right means the person faces south.

Analogy

The sun is a lamp. The shadow is the dark patch on the far side of the lamp, not on the lamp side. Move the lamp from east to west and the dark patch moves from west to east.

Quick reference

• Morning: sun east, shadow west.
• Evening: sun west, shadow east.
• Morning, shadow on the left: facing north. Morning, shadow on the right: facing south.
• Evening, shadow on the right: facing north. Evening, shadow on the left: facing south.