Your short answer, (and it-is-in text below):
There continues to be controversy over the non-visual ultraviolet (100 to 400 nm) frequencies which equal 10%, and infrared (over 700 nm) wavelengths which are 40% of all radiation reaching earth.
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Of the radiation striking the earth, approximately 50% has a visible wavelength of 400 and 700 nanometers. A nanometer (nm) is the standard measurement used to express wavelength of light. It is equivalent to one billionth of a meter in length. Although such visual color exposure (violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red) are only a fraction of all wavelengths known to mankind, color combinations and blends of hue in this visual range can exceed 100 million. There continues to be controversy over the non-visual ultraviolet (100 to 400 nm) frequencies which equal 10%, and infrared (over 700 nm) wavelengths which are 40% of all radiation reaching earth. Of course, the fact remains that without ultraviolet and infrared our world would not be the same. Infrared provides us with the required heat that keeps us warm. Ultraviolet provides us with the ability to fight off germs in the air (UVC), creates skin pigmentation as a natural protector (UVB) and helps in our vitamin and mineral absorption capabilities (UVA). UVC are the shortest ultraviolet rays and virtually all of these frequencies are absorbed by our atmosphere and the ozone layer. The remaining UV light that reaches the ground is about 10% UVB and 90% UVA at midday.
http://www.atlantisrising.com/issue11/ar11ultraviolet.html
2006-09-15 02:10:59
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answer #1
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answered by Excel 5
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Do you mean, "Why is the spectrum of sunlight continuous?" That is, are you asking why the spectrum of sunlight is white light rather than a discrete set of frequencies?
The light you see from the sun primarily comes from nuclear fusion of hydrogen. In this fusion process, energy is released as light. That light can vary in frequency, and so the light we see from the sun spreads across the entire spectrum of visible light.
In other words, you should not think of the sun like you might think if an LED or a flourescent lamp. The sun is more like an incandescent lamp. In fact, the spectrum observed from the sun is often modeled as a black body. That is, the light form the sun is often modeled in the same way as the light you would see if you heated an object so hot that it started to glow.
2006-09-15 02:39:40
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answer #2
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answered by Ted 4
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IS this a bad translation of another language with those web language compilers?
Is this a haiku?
A riddle? A conundrum?
2006-09-15 01:49:50
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answer #3
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answered by Anonymous
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It can't very well stop, now, can it?!
2006-09-15 01:51:16
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answer #4
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answered by tgypoi 5
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