Why does the sun appear to rise and set?

Answer 1

Im assuming your talking about night and day.

The orbit of the sun around the Earth has little to do with it, first of all. 24 hours constitutes one day, whereas one cycle around the sun takes about a year.. so clearly our orbit around the sun has nothing to do with the sun "rising and falling"

Night and day, or the phenomena of the sun "rising and falling" is caused by the Earth's rotation around its own axis. As the world spins like a rolling ball suspended in the air, different parts of the planet are exposed to the sun's light.

This is to say that, the sun rises over your home each day - or appears to - because your broad section of the planet is slowly turning towards the sun.

Now I mentioned the orbit around the sun has little to do with this for the sake of - what I think - you were trying to figure out. On the poles, night or day may last for months because that part of the earth may be tilted towards or away from the sun ... so that even as the planet turns that area remains exposed to the sun's light or hidden in the planets shadow. This particular case is effected by our rotation around the Earth, but is an exception to the rest of the planet.

Check out this page if you need some more clarity (watch the movie for some visual if it helps)

http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/spacesciences/observingsky/motion1.htm

Answer 2

Because we are sitting on a more or less fixed spot on the
surface of the Earth. The Earth is spining around and around,
like one complete turn around in every 24 hours (one day). As
the Earth spins around, objects in the sky move from one side
of the horizon to the other. The Sun, for example, seems to rise in the East and set in the West as a result.

To try that for yourself, locate a vehicle somewhere at night which has its headlights on. Stop and stare at the vehicle's headlights. Now slowly turn around for one full 360 degree
turn. See how the headlights moved from one side of your
complete vision all the way to the other side, then went out of sight behind you? That is it. That is why the Sun appears to
rise and set.

Answer 3

because the earth is rotating and orbiting (going around) the sun.

one rotation is a day
one orbit is a year

take a ball and put a dot on it. think of the dot as where you are standing.
face that dot to a lit bulb (representing the sun) in your house and then rotate the ball (in the direction where the dot moves away from the bulb)... you will see at one stage that the light does not shine directly on the dotted side of the ball.

that's how the earth rotates away from the sun causing day and night.

some places in the world have 6 months of sun light and 6 months of darkness ... that's because of their positioning... the sun does go down but not enough for it to be dark and then rises again.

Answer 4

Because the earth is spinning on it's axis once every 24 hours or so. And since we have no other external source to compare our motion against during the day, it's almost impossible to tell if we are moving or if the sun is simply by looking at it.

Answer 5

because the earth revolves around the sun. therefore, the sun moves along the earth, which makes the sun apear as if it was going up and down.

Answer 6

The earth is constantly spinning on its axis around the sun.

Answer 7

because the earth revolves around the sun.

Answer 8

It is due to the rotation & revolution of the earth.

Answer 9

because the earth's spinning.

Answer 10

because your going blind dude, i never heard that before