Why is it that the higher you go the cooler it becomes when you are going towards the sun which is hot???????

Question

This laps rate is confusing because when one is going towrds the sun, it was supposed to be very hot.

Answer 1

The difference of a few miles in altitude doesn't amount to anything out of the 93 million miles to the sun. The air cools because it's thinner and is therefore cooler.

Answer 2

The distance from the earth to the sun is so great that a few miles or even a few hundred miles won't matter at all. The air is thinner the higher you go, because gravity keeps most of the air close to the ground. The air acts as a blanket to keep the heat in, and the higher you go, the thinner this blanket is. More air can hold more heat, less air can't hold as much heat. Higher altitudes have less air, so they can't hold as much heat.

Also, the sun doesn't really heat the air all that much, since the air is transparent and the radiation mostly goes right through it. The ground absorbs a lot of the radiation, and so it's really the ground heating up because of the sun more than anything. The ground then radiates the heat into the air causing it to warm up. This is why the longest day of the year with the most direct sunlight is not usually the hottest day, instead the hottest times are about 6-8 weeks after that.

Answer 3

The guys are right. As you get higher, the radiant energy received from the sun does increase - hence sunburn on mountaineers. But the denser air absorbs more heat and has been doing so for a long time, so the loss of the surrounding heat as you rise is greater than the gain from the sun - so it feels colder. There is a point in space as you approach the sun where the effect is balanced and after that it will just go on getting hotter - don't even go there!
Cheers, Steve

Answer 4

The decrease in temperature as you go up is called the "adiabatic lapse rate" for the following reason:
1) The heat from the Sun is mostly deposted at ground level, where the light from the Sun (that has gone through the mostly transparent atmosphere) gets absorbed.
2) So the atmosphere is heated from below, like a pot on a fire.
3) A "blob" of warm air (you could think of it enclosed in a very thin bag, like a clothing bag from a dry cleaner's) will rise, and as it rises, it expands, and as it expands, it cools.
4) All the warm air near the ground therefore wants to rise and cool. To take its place, air from above moves down to take its place. This is called convection. Convection carries heat from the lower atmosphere to the upper atmosphere.
5) Convection will cause warm air to rise, and cold air above to sink, until it begins to get too cold near the ground and too warm higher up. Then it will stop.
6) The decrease in temperature, that is just big enough a decrease to cause convection to stop, is called the "adiabatic lapse rate". "Adiabatic" means that the blob in the bag (see 3) does not exchange energy with the air around it.
7) So, the atmosphere tends to be driven into convection, until the adiabatic lapse rate is reached, and then convection stops. This sets up a typical rate of temperature decrease with altitude.

Answer 5

Good question!
there must be a point some where between the earth and the sun where it's just right...like a nice 70 C.
I think we should build a planet there like on Star Wars, but make it with no atmosphere. we could all live inside the globe and never have to pay for heating!
wouldn't it be great?!

Answer 6

It is called The" Adiabatic Lapse Rate" that for every 1000 feet you go up there is an average drop of 1.98 degrees fahrenheight . Atmospheric pressure also changes at a similar rate , until aroung 14,000 then it drops exponentially.
Pressure and Friction create heat , less pressure , less friction ,less heat when you get to the vacuum of space you can reach temps of minus (-300 F) ......
Hope that answers your question

Answer 7

The thinner atmosphere does not contain as much heat.
The atmosphere also protects from harmful UV rays that give you a sunburn.
So when you go higher you get colder but you burn more.

Answer 8

The warmth you feel at ground level is increased as a lot of it is heat that has been absorbed by the earth from the sun, and is being radiated out again. You don't get that effect when you're further from the ground.

Answer 9

Because the air pressure at altitude is less than the pressure at sea-level. Therefore it is unable to retain as much heat.

Answer 10

Forget about being nearer the sun. It's about 93,000,000 miles away, and even if you go up Mt Everest it's STILL about 93,000,000 miles away.

The air is colder higher up, that's all.