any scientists..!! please answer this

[Quiff Wichard]

was having sunday lunch at the in laws.

grandad asked a Q?


why? does the sun warm the earth,, we feel it and get suntanned from it etc etc etc.

but in a plane at the height they fly- outside the pilot tells us the temperature is minus whatever!..

so if you are nearer to the sun there- whys it colder>?
what happens to the heat.. where does it go and how can it then reach the earth and be roastin hot??


is it obvious?

[21QUEST]

I don't really know how to explain it but it's something to do with the Solar Plexus being in a different plane to the axis of rotation of the earth.

:lol: :wink:


HTH




Cheers
Ben

[kwak zzr]

on a nice sunny winters day it can be freezing cold :? not quite the answer you were looking for?
its only cuz i cant answer it :roll:

[mpaton2006]

Insulation. The atmosphere gets thinner the higher you go, hence less air to absorb the energy. Plus there's less of everything in general. In towns and cities the buildings, roads, absorb and emit heat. If you go out in to the wilderness, it's generally a fair bit cooler.

That's why on a clear night, it's generally freezing and when it's cloudy, it's milder.

[gettin2dizzy]

The heat is only held in by the atmosphere. On a night with a clear sky you'll notice it is freeezing compared to a cloudy night. As the 'insulation' descreases with altitude, the temperature drops by about 7 degrees per 1000m altitude (as far as i can remember). This is why the deserts suffer from nights of about -10 celcius. If you were in concorde the plane skin heats up to about 90 celcius due to its speed! The reason that space is so cold is that there isn't anything there to heat up- so the suns energy travels through it until it hits earth. hope that clears it up a bit :)

[tricky]

Isn't it to do with air pressure, Boyles law and that.
Pressure in a fixed volume of gas is inversely proportional to temperature.
Air pressure decreases the higher in the atmosphere you go, hence its colder.

[Apophes]

its all down to winds and vacuums in space no one can hear you fart :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Razor]

Generally the higher you get the less dense the air. when the air has less density it can't hold as much heat.
That's also why it's cold in the desert at night, no air moisture to hold the heat, even at sea level.

[gettin2dizzy]

yeah, thats to do with the constant air-temperature ratio (which is obviously constant :P ) which is equal to density*r(another constant)*temperature. another aspect of it is that the earth emits heat. Why its so cold the day you plan a long ride i don;t know though

[Quiff Wichard]

hmmm all very interesting...

and grandad will be educated cos he says hes lost sleep at night over this..


BUT-

how can the heat travel to earth through this "space" thats cold and then re heat to give me a suntan!??...

or r u saying its constantly that hot but cos of the make up of the atmosphere at that height it cant be felt..? is it like insulating?

oo I am not thick I am quite educated but stuff liek this makes me feel like jade goody !!

[gettin2dizzy]

hehe. i just looked at that again and either i've invented a new equation, or its wrong. I wouldn't care but thats what i'm trained to do and what i have to deal with everyday, all day. hehe :oops: i was mixing 2 equations.

[gettin2dizzy]

theres no such thing as 'heat'. the sun gives off energy which isn't absorbed in space- as there is nothing to absorb it -so it reaches earth. And your suntan comes from UV rays. If you were in space you would burn (theres nothing to reflect the light to show how bright it is), but that would be the last of your worries. Even in an aircraft your subjected to 'cosmic radiation'. In space you'd be cosmic toast! How high up have you ridden your sv? :? :wink:

[Law]

BUT-

how can the heat travel to earth through this "space" thats cold and then re heat to give me a suntan!??...

or r u saying its constantly that hot but cos of the make up of the atmosphere at that height it cant be felt..? is it like insulating?

oo I am not thick I am quite educated but stuff liek this makes me feel like jade goody !!

There's 3 different type of heat transfer, radiation, convection and conduction.

Heat from the sun gets to us by radiation which can travel through a vacuum.

HTH

[tigersaw]

[quote="Quiff Wichard"
how can the heat travel to earth through this "space" thats cold and then re heat to give me a suntan!??...

/quote]

Its the suns 'radiation' (or rays if you like) that causes things to heat up - the heat itself does not travel from the sun.

[Quiff Wichard]

ahahahahaha all is becoming clearer now !!...



carry on..

this is good and grandy will get some sleep.!!

I am printing it off for him to read.

[Smurf]

Also don't forget that it's not the 'heat' that gives you a suntan/burn. It's all energy at the end of the day but it's the UV spectrum of solar radiation that burns. After all it doesn't matter how hot it is at night you aint never getting no tan 8) and that's because the heat you feel is the longwave radiation reflected of the earth's surface and bounced back of the atmosphere.

[Ed]

Ooh I'd forgotten all about O level physics with Mr Lewis, 1975 - 1977 :lol:

[kwak zzr]

i was 3 when you were doing that Ed. :lol:

[tricky]

Ooh I'd forgotten all about O level physics with Mr Lewis, 1975 - 1977 :lol:

1977 I finished infants and started primary school. Coincidentally my teacher (at primary school) was Miss Lewis :D

[Richie]

Give him another Guinness and tell him not to worry as all the big important questions will be answered by a puppet in Government pretty soon.
:wink:

[Quiff Wichard]

Give him another Guinness and tell him not to worry as all the big important questions will be answered by a puppet in Government pretty soon.
:wink:

he drinks whisky- and plenty of it.!! ha ha

he had a few quotes on the immigrants.. he has other words he uses but I will not mention them- or his views.. bless him...

" I fought the war for what " ?? is his fave saying... and THAT may ring home true more to u Rich than most..

but- I dont wanna start a contentious isssue off.. so will say ty to all who contributed-

printed it off and will show grandad tomoz..he will sleep well monday night !

[Alpinestarhero]

hmmm all very interesting...

and grandad will be educated cos he says hes lost sleep at night over this..


BUT-

how can the heat travel to earth through this "space" thats cold and then re heat to give me a suntan!??...

or r u saying its constantly that hot but cos of the make up of the atmosphere at that height it cant be felt..? is it like insulating?

oo I am not thick I am quite educated but stuff liek this makes me feel like jade goody !!

Infra-red radiation, mostly, i beleive. And other long-wavelength radiation. Not enough energy to create chemical changes, but enough energy to cause rotational, vibrational and translational changes of the molecules that absorb that radiation;

This then leaves that molecule at a higher energy state :D and all its vibrations (heat is vibrations!) and translations (i.e. moving from one spot to the next) and rotations are felt by us as heat, as we absorb the energy of those molecules that are "hot"

Of course, our own molecules that make us up absorb IR radtion and such, so we get hot in the same way

And thats how the heat of the sun reaches us here on earth.

Dont ever be afraid to ask questions

(unless your on the MCN forums, wgere everyone is hostile)

:D

Matt

[Quiff Wichard]

cheers !


oh I love asking questions..!
















"what colour are yer pants" mostly.. :wink:

[Terence]

The sun heats us in a way similar to a microwave baking a potato. The radiation of the microwave transfers energy in a "wave" form to the potato where it becomes heat energy. The inside of the microwave isn't nearly as hot as a normal oven... it just heats up because the food inside is heating up.

On a "hot" day, the sun is heating up the air around us too, that's why it feels warmer, but on a "cold" day we can still get sunburned.

Quite Interesting, innit?

[Jools'SV Now]

No No No, you're all wrongety wrong!

It's magic 8)

[Ed]

No No No, you're all wrongety wrong!

It's magic 8)

And no one has explained why the heat from the sun hasn't melted the moon long ago. AFter all, everyone knows that the moon's made of cheese.

[seedy100]

The moon doesn't melt because the mice hold up parasols to keep it cool.

[Rob S (Yella)]

There are little creatures in space that look like small plastic horses and they are called Brians, They were at war with small creatures called GILLY FISH. The Gilly fish ran away from the Brians and hid on earth. At the moment you can see the Gilly fish in East London pie and mash shops in the Vinegar bottles. Most people think they are chillies but they are small space creatures. They have been on earth for many years hiding in different places.

The Gilly fish are magic and make our planet warm as they like it warm and that's why its warmer on earth than space.

So if you see some small plastic horses don't take them to the Pie and Mash shop otherwise you will restart the war.

Hope that helps.

[seedy100]

In an effort to answer the original question.

There are three ways in which energy can travel.
Convection
Conduction and
Radiation

Both Convection and conduction require a medium in which to travel.
Space is a vacuum, so there is no medium for the energy to travel through (unless you believe in dark matter - but thats another story).

Since conduction and convection are ruled out the only mechanism by which energy can reach the earth is radiation.

Once emitted a quantum of radiation will travel until it "Hits" something

When it hits whatever a number of outcomes are possible, some of which result in the output of heat.

(The outcomes range from reflection at one extream to absorbtion at the other)

In the outer reigons of the atmosphere there is very little "Stuff" for the quanta to hit, therefore there is very little chance of any heat being given off.

As you get nearer the surface the density increases (ie the amount of stuff) therefore more collisions occour and more heat is given off.

The amount of stuff is much greater at and below the surface than in the air above it.
If the surface is water there is less stuff than if the surface is land, which is why land heats up quicker than water. Which in turn creates thermals and other weather effects.

The difference between the radiation that travels through space and the radiation that we call heat is the wavelength of the radiation. This difference in wavelength is crutial because much of the radiation that arrives from the sun passes through the gasses in the atmosphere hits stuff and has its wavelength changed. The new radiation at the new wavelength is (in part) reflected by the gasses in the atmosphere and bounced back to the ground, bounced back up and so on until it is fully absorbed or escapes. This is what causes the "green house" effect

Of course it is also possible that its all due to the emissions from flying saucers.

HTH

Chris

[Quiff Wichard]

ta for the laffs.. and ta for the serious answers... !!!


oh and for your info- here's grandad who started the original thread-- .. he's brill !!...


oh and they arent ALL his animals.!! he is at his daughters-- just the choccy Labrador is grandys.. -

and FYI- he says "thank the kids for me" as he can now sleep at night






NB- everyone is a "kid" to grandad


http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b326/sigourneysbeaver/Picture087.jpg

[Ed]

He looks like you y'know - this is Quiff in 35 years time :lol: :shock:

[The Basket]

odd point but old carbed piston engines had effective carb heaters so no carb icing.
Even at altitude...even in the 1940's!
Shows progress...whereas the SV650....

[Alpinestarhero]

Quantum Theory has just been introduced to Quiff Wichard, what a brilliant day when someone realises that its not tooo complicated (until we start doing the maths)

8)

Matt

[Quiff Wichard]

ooo I dunno !!

I still dont understand it all..

and its my grandad in law.!!


still a top bloke though and I am proud to call him grandad

[$tevo]

There's 3 different type of heat transfer, radiation, convection and conduction.



4 types - you forgot carpet burns :smt057

[Quiff Wichard]

He looks like you y'know - this is Quiff in 35 years time :lol: :shock:

I am a bit like that NOW.. surrounded by dogs !

[gettin2dizzy]

erm... why are there so many animals around him? is that one between his legs? :?

[Quiff Wichard]

hee hee

cos he's at his daughters-
she lives in a massive house with 2 dogs- 4 cats, a rabbit .. guinea pig, 2 horses- stables - 6 doves.. bla bla.. they just love animals.. ,,,

just the chocolate labrador in the middle is grandads.!

but he's surrounded as its feeding time!!!... NOT how I would feed a dog but grandy enjoys it.

oh he says a big thanks again he enjoyed reading the answers