Why don't earth Freeze.

[PattdownManiac]

When it is nighttime and the sun is on the other side of the earth, why don't dark side freeze. It is our atmosphere keeps heat in? Why do we even need sun anymore then.

[latefordinner]

I could tell you, but then you'd probably ask why people in South America don't fall off.

[Bill Haywood]

The magnetic field.

[arod18]

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I could tell you, but then you'd probably ask why people in South America don't fall off.

[/ QUOTE ]

I LOL'D

[FortunaMaximus]

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The magnetic field.

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And I thought wooden shoes were absurd. Go figure. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[Silent A]

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When it is nighttime and the sun is on the other side of the earth, why don't dark side freeze. It is our atmosphere keeps heat in? Why do we even need sun anymore then.

[/ QUOTE ]

We need the sun because otherwise it would be dark all the time.

[PattdownManiac]

See you acting like hotshots, but you can't actually explain why earth don't freeze when facing away from sun.

[Duke]

The Earth do not freeze because the core is too hot for that to happen.

[livin_a_lie]

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See you acting like hotshots, but you can't actually explain why earth don't freeze when facing away from sun.

[/ QUOTE ]

More people have sex at night and that creates a lot of heat.

[TimWillTell]

Greetings, oh Maniac.

Many times when Earth facing away from sun, Earth does frees!
The next day we then put on special shoes with a blade of iron under it to slide over the water that has become solid.

[Stu Pidasso]

[ QUOTE ]
When it is nighttime and the sun is on the other side of the earth, why don't dark side freeze. It is our atmosphere keeps heat in? Why do we even need sun anymore then.

[/ QUOTE ]

It starts to freeze but before it can the sun rises again. Thats why it gets colder at night and warms during the day.

Stu

[PuppyFridayYall]

It's pretty obvious he is joking but in all serious those that know the science why doesn't it freeze? My guess is that sun enters the atmosphere during the day and sort of warms things up (for lack of a better phrase) and that heat remains contained in the ozone at night until morning. If anyone has a Wikipedia article I'd be intrigued to read it.

Jake

[PuppyFridayYall]

I just realized my post above sounds a little jumbled. What I would like is for someone to point me towards a link or just tell me the science behind all of this.

Jake

[Silent A]

Have you ever noticed that when you take a hot pan out of a hot oven it's still hot even when it's no longer in the oven? And later on, it's not. But then you put it in the hot oven again, and damnit the pan gets hot again?

The physics is the same.

[PairTheBoard]

[ QUOTE ]
It's pretty obvious he is joking but in all serious those that know the science why doesn't it freeze? My guess is that sun enters the atmosphere during the day and sort of warms things up (for lack of a better phrase) and that heat remains contained in the ozone at night until morning. If anyone has a Wikipedia article I'd be intrigued to read it.

Jake

[/ QUOTE ]

A better question might be, where does the heat go at night? The air is warm when the sun goes down. But it gets colder during the night. Where does the warmth go?

btw, I really like that song, "The Warmth" by Incubus.

PairTheBoard

[Bill Haywood]

You put cold in thermos, it come out cold.

You put hot in thermos, it come out hot.

How do it know?

[ApeAttack]

Just in case the OP wasn't kidding... I am a graduate student and have dealt with atmospheric processes a lot in my studies.

It is due to 2 factors... the greenhouse effect (not talking about global warming, although it is the same principle) and due to the earth releasing energy absorbed from the sun during the day (blackbody radiation).

During the day:
Some incoming light (photons) hit air molecules causing them to undergo a chemical reaction, be converted to thermal energy, or reradiated in a random direction. The earth absorbs some of the photons and the light energy gets converted to heat (the earth gets warm during the day). Air will get near the earth and be warmed as well through convection.

The earth also reflects some of the photons. These photons may be absorbed by air (warming the air) or may pass through the atmosphere to space.

The whole time the earth is emitting electromagnetic radiation in the infraded region of the electromagnetic spectrum (all objects with a temperature radiate energy). This is called 'blackbody radiation.'


At night:
There is no energy input from the sun, but the earth is still radiating outward in the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. This would cause the earth to lose energy real fast if there was no atmosphere. Fortunately, there is CO2, water and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere which love to absorb infrared radiation. If there was no atmosphere, it would be a LOT colder. The GHGs will absorb the radiation and either (1) gain kinetic energy (making them 'hotter') or will reradiate the infrared radiation in a random direction. The main point is that the infrared radiation from the earth is not going straight to space, but can be intercepted and retained for a longer period of time by the GHGs.

Look at the picture on the right of the wiki page. This should give you some idea of how the earth/atmosphere can retain a lot of heat.
Radiative balance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect)

[PattdownManiac]

Thank you. Finally someone who knows.

[malorum]

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I am a graduate student and have dealt with atmospheric processes a lot in my studies.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh dear


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Some incoming light (photons) hit air molecules causing them to unde(rgo) a chemical reaction, be converted to thermal energy,

[/ QUOTE ]

The conversion from light to heat is not a generally considered a chemical reaction. It involves the conversion of light energy to molecular kinetic energy. It does not involve changes in molecular structure.
The rest of you answer suggests you probably understand this.

[Duke]

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Thank you. Finally someone who knows.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm fairly certain that everyone who replied in the thread knew.

[Phil153]

Special Sklansky Question: How quickly would the earth radiate away its energy during the night without the atmosphere? How cold would it get?

[Duke]

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Special Sklansky Question: How quickly would the earth radiate away its energy during the night without the atmosphere? How cold would it get?

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe this would be similar to the moon, so we'd go from about 260F to -400F.

[Justin A]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Special Sklansky Question: How quickly would the earth radiate away its energy during the night without the atmosphere? How cold would it get?

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe this would be similar to the moon, so we'd go from about 260F to -400F.

[/ QUOTE ]

Another question. How long would it take the earth to get down to -400F if the sun suddenly disappeared?

[PairTheBoard]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Special Sklansky Question: How quickly would the earth radiate away its energy during the night without the atmosphere? How cold would it get?

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe this would be similar to the moon, so we'd go from about 260F to -400F.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Earth has a hot molten core unlike the moon. Also, the different sizes of the bodies might affect the phenomenon as well as different periods of rotation.

PairTheBoard

[livin_a_lie]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Special Sklansky Question: How quickly would the earth radiate away its energy during the night without the atmosphere? How cold would it get?

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe this would be similar to the moon, so we'd go from about 260F to -400F.

[/ QUOTE ]

Another question. How long would it take the earth to get down to -400F if the sun suddenly disappeared?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is from a Geography class I'm taking right now,

[ QUOTE ]
If the Sun Stopped Shining

If the sun were to stop shining at 6 p.m. (sunset) on Monday with an average global surface temperature of 80 degrees F,

WEEK 1

* Tuesday: Global temperature would drop to 20 degrees F; temperatures would be kept relatively high due to the earth's internal heat.
* Wednesday: Global temperatures would be 10 degrees F and snow would fall most everywhere.
* Thursday: Temperatures would be -10 degrees F and snow would continue. Most of the world would start to resemble interior Alaska in the winter.
* Friday to Tuesday: Temperatures would gradually drop to -30 degrees F with snow. Most of the world would start to resemble the North Slope of Alaska in the winter.

WEEK 2

* Wednesday: Oceans would start freezing; clouds would start clearing.
* Friday: All of the oceans would be frozen; the temperature would be -90 degrees F; CO2 (carbon dioxide) clouds would form.
* Saturday: Carbon dioxide snow would fall.

WEEK 3

* Monday: The temperature would be -180 degrees F.
* Wednesday: The temperature would be -300 degrees F; liquid nitrogen and argon clouds and rain would form.
* Friday: Volcanic eruptions would occur throughout the world caused by ocean ice, obliterating any sign of life on the surface of the planet.

[/ QUOTE ]

[agent_fish]

interesting stuff livinalie

[Doug Funnie II]

our atmosphere effectively gives us too high of a specific heat

[Dominic]

[ QUOTE ]
I could tell you, but then you'd probably ask why people in South America don't fall off.

[/ QUOTE ]

/images/graemlins/grin.gif /images/graemlins/grin.gif /images/graemlins/grin.gif

oh crap I laughed so hard at this i farted.

[eviljeff]

if he says the sun sucks, go "yeah [censored] the sun I [censored] hate it too long live the [censored] beast"

[KUJustin]

Which day would the last human die on that sun stops shining timeline?

[vhawk01]

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Which day would the last human die on that sun stops shining timeline?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd say like a Wednesday.

[arahant]

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Which day would the last human die on that sun stops shining timeline?

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I'd say like a Wednesday.

[/ QUOTE ]

Only a 1 in 7 chance of that. I've got a VERY well-insulated bunker, a generator, and 10,000 gallons of fuel oil in my back yard.

(And a .30-06, so don't even think about it...)

[vhawk01]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Which day would the last human die on that sun stops shining timeline?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd say like a Wednesday.

[/ QUOTE ]

Only a 1 in 7 chance of that. I've got a VERY well-insulated bunker, a generator, and 10,000 gallons of fuel oil in my back yard.

(And a .30-06, so don't even think about it...)

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL at thinking the chances of the apocalypse are evenly distributed among days of the week. N00b.

[ApeAttack]

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Some incoming light (photons) hit air molecules causing them to unde(rgo) a chemical reaction, be converted to thermal energy,

[/ QUOTE ]

The conversion from light to heat is not a generally considered a chemical reaction. It involves the conversion of light energy to molecular kinetic energy. It does not involve changes in molecular structure.
The rest of you answer suggests you probably understand this.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was thinking about photolysis of molecules to the absorption of vis/UV radiation. You're right... it's not usually called a 'chemical' reaction... I was typing fast.

[Hoi Polloi]

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If anyone has a Wikipedia article I'd be intrigued to read it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wikipedia's online now, I think.