Even on a hot, clear, and sunny day, why is it still colder on top of a mountain than below on the ground?

Question

I know this will sound naive, but shouldn't it be warmer on top of a mountain because it is "closer" to the sun?

I'm guessing it's colder because the air is thinner on higher elevation. So does this mean that heat travels through air? But heat can also travel in outer space, which is a complete vacuum.

I should've paid more attention in my high school science class.

Answer 1

A few thousand feet closer to the sun doesn't make a difference when you're millions of miles away. But it does make a big difference in the nature of the air. Near the ground the air is more dense, has more moisture that can capture and hold heat. It's also closer to the ground, which warms up by soaking up the sun's rays, so the air picks up the warmth from the earth. It's most likely less windy near the ground, and windy air up on the mountain makes for wind chill. As the air rises from convection, it cools and releases its moisture, so when it reaches the peak it's cool and dry. Think of the air up on a mountain as a season or two cooler than at the base.

Answer 2

before each thing, the biggest question usually requested is, if warm air rises, how come that is chillier the better up you're. it really is similar on your question. this question assumes that the air at sea element and the air at mountain element are a similar, regardless of the indisputable fact that they don't look to be. they have diverse densities, it truly is why mountaineers now and again take oxygen up Everest because of the skinny air. the better up you're, the better breaths you opt on to take to absorb as a lot oxygen as you opt on. because the suns rays hit the earth, they go by skill of the ambience. because the ambience is amazingly low in density contained in the better areas, the daylight rays do not hit the air molecules as a lot as they do at sea element. this signifies that the air is chillier in evaluation. As for Icarus, the Greeks had no idea of area, now to not indicate the gap between the earth and the daylight. Icarus is a narrative that unfortunatly isn't reality.

Answer 3

The sunlight doesn't heat up the air directly because air is transparent and doesn't absorb visible light.
So the sunlight heats up the ground and the warm ground then heats up the air above it.