To cast a sharp, well-defined shadow of an opaque toy, which source-object setup is best?

To cast a sharp, well-defined shadow of an opaque toy, which source-object setup is best?
  1. A large scattered light source placed very far from the object
  2. A small point source of light placed close to the object with the screen far behind
  3. A long tube light wrapped in translucent paper
  4. A transparent glass block placed in broad daylight

Solution

A small concentrated light source creates sharp shadow edges without creating broad fuzzy blurred regions (penumbra).

Asked in: Homi Bhabha Practice

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