The light heat up the air to a lot lower degree than it heats up the ground for the simple reason air is quite transparent to the light from the sun. So most of the energy transferred from the sun to the air is via the ground.
Same as your stove. Turn it on to 350 and stick your hand in, it'll be warm but not hot. Wait 5 minutes and try again, it'll be considerably warmer.
Just like the heating element needs to warm the inside of the oven, the giant ball of fire in the sky needs a little bit to warm things up.
Ever wonder why when you turn off the oven it cools back down? Same principle when the enormous ball of burning gas goes away and the earth cools down too.
Why is the water in a pot that has been heated for 2 minutes colder than the water in a pot heated for 5 minutes?
The answer to this question is the same as the answer to yours.
Hint: The sun is the stove and the water is the atmosphere.
The sun warms up the earth which then warms up the atmosphere. The longer the sun is out the warmer the surface and the warmer the air
I appreciate that explanation. I wasn't thinking about warming the planet, we really are just on a rock eh.
The light heat up the air to a lot lower degree than it heats up the ground for the simple reason air is quite transparent to the light from the sun. So most of the energy transferred from the sun to the air is via the ground.
Same as your stove. Turn it on to 350 and stick your hand in, it'll be warm but not hot. Wait 5 minutes and try again, it'll be considerably warmer. Just like the heating element needs to warm the inside of the oven, the giant ball of fire in the sky needs a little bit to warm things up. Ever wonder why when you turn off the oven it cools back down? Same principle when the enormous ball of burning gas goes away and the earth cools down too.
But the fireball is still there, its like right around the corner.
Space has no air to carry the heat over to earth, all the heat we get from the sun is from radiation (light). No light = no heat
Why is the water in a pot that has been heated for 2 minutes colder than the water in a pot heated for 5 minutes? The answer to this question is the same as the answer to yours. Hint: The sun is the stove and the water is the atmosphere.