What happens when sunlight strikes Earth?

What happens when sunlight strikes Earth?

Once the sun’s energy reaches earth, it is intercepted first by the atmosphere. A small part of the sun’s energy is directly absorbed, particularly by certain gases such as ozone and water vapor. Some of the sun’s energy is reflected back to space by clouds and the earth’s surface.

What affects how much sunlight hits a certain part of the Earth?

The 23.5° tilt in the Earth’s axis of rotation is a more significant factor in determining the amount of sunlight striking the Earth at a particular location.

What three things can happen when the Sun’s rays reach the Earth?

Once energy from the Sun gets to Earth, several things can happen to it:

• Energy can be scattered or absorbed by aerosols in the atmosphere.
• Short wavelengths are absorbed by ozone in the stratosphere.
• Clouds may act to either reflect energy out to space or absorb energy, trapping it in the atmosphere.

What happen when the Sun rays strike the ground at a high angle?

When the sun’s rays strike Earth’s surface near the equator, the incoming solar radiation is more direct (nearly perpendicular or closer to a 90˚ angle). At higher latitudes, the angle of solar radiation is smaller, causing energy to be spread over a larger area of the surface and cooler temperatures.

What are four things that happen to the sun’s energy when it reaches Earth?

Energy released from the Sun is emitted as shortwave light and ultraviolet energy. When it reaches the Earth, some is reflected back to space by clouds, some is absorbed by the atmosphere, and some is absorbed at the Earth’s surface.

How much sunlight does Earth get?

At Earth’s average distance from the Sun (about 150 million kilometers), the average intensity of solar energy reaching the top of the atmosphere directly facing the Sun is about 1,360 watts per square meter, according to measurements made by the most recent NASA satellite missions.

What happens to the energy from the sun as it reaches the earth?

Energy released from the Sun is emitted as shortwave light and ultraviolet energy. When it reaches the Earth, some is reflected back to space by clouds, some is absorbed by the atmosphere, and some is absorbed at the Earth’s surface. Shortwave radiation reflected back to space by clouds.

What means that the rays of the Sun hit the ground at 90?

direct rays
The light rays that are hitting the earth at 90 degrees are known as direct rays. Areas of the Earth that are hit by direct rays are warmer than areas that are hit by indirect rays. The equator (yellow) is always hit by direct rays of the sun.

How does the sun heat the Earth?

The sun heats the earth through radiation. Since there is no medium (like the gas in our atmosphere) in space, radiation is the primary way that heat travels in space. When the heat reaches the earth it warms the molecules of the atmosphere, and they warm other molecules and so on. This heat transfer is called conduction.

How does the Sun help Earth?

Sun’s Effect on Earth. Energy from the Sun is very important to the Earth. The Sun warms our planet, heating the surface, the oceans and the atmosphere. This energy to the atmosphere is one of the primary drivers our weather.

What is the amount of sunlight on Earth?

The amount of sunlight is dependent on the extent of the daytime cloud cover. Some places on Earth receive more than 4,000 hours per year of sunlight (more than 90 percent of the maximum possible), as in the Sahara; others receive less than 2,000 hours, as in regions of frequent storminess, such as Scotland and Iceland.

What is light from the Sun?

The light which comes from sun are actually photons (elementary particles with wave-like duality). The light (photons) are by product of a nuclear reaction going on inside the sun. In this nuclear reaction, hydrogen atoms fuse together to become helium atoms.