Radiation- Heat energy transferred by radiation travels through space?

Question

radiation- with out heating the space and is absorbed by the first solid object that it encounters. If is true; why when sun light hiting on mountain covered with snow, is not melting?

Answer 1

Great question, johnvarghesep!!!

Eugene N is partly right.

The OTHER HUGE factor which addresses your question about radiation directly is this:

Snow has a VERY high reflectivity, thus most of the Sun's radiation is reflected, and very little is absorbed by the snow. See an excerpt of the citation below on "albedo," the ratio of reflected radiation to incoming radiation:

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"Albedos of typical materials in visible light range from up to 90% [90% of the radiation is reflected] for fresh snow, to about 4% for charcoal, one of the darkest substances... Most land areas are in an albedo range of 10 to 40% [1].The average albedo of the Earth is about 30%[1] [2]. This is far higher than for the ocean primarily because of the contribution of clouds...

The classic example of albedo effect is the snow-temperature feedback . If a snow covered area warms and the snow melts, the albedo decreases, more sunlight is absorbed, and the temperature tends to increase. The converse is true: if snow forms, a cooling cycle happens. [because more of the Sun's radiation is reflected]

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Surely hope that helps!! :-)

Answer 2

The the top of the mountain is so cold because of the thin air at that altitude, that it's not warm enough for the snow to melt.