Elevation

Five shadow levels as --md-sys-elevation-*, for what floats over content.

Panels separate by tone first: the surface-container steps are a hierarchy of emphasis, not of height. Shadows are for what floats or lifts — 1 for elevated cards, buttons and modal sheets; 2 for menus, the navigation bar and a scrolled app bar; 3 for the FAB, dialogs, pickers and search; one level more on hover; nothing rests above 3. Fewer shadows carry more meaning.

@foreach ([1, 2, 3, 4, 5] as $level)

--md-sys-elevation-{{ $level }}

@endforeach