2007-04-01 05:03:00 · 10 answers · asked by JP 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
You are not really getting noticeably closer to the sun. If you went to the top of a mountain you might be up 3 miles which is a tiny percentage compared to the 93 million miles to the sun. So that is out as a warming factor.
It is the winds on the mountain top that lower its temperature as well as the thinner air not holding as much heat.
2007-04-01 05:10:14 · answer #1 · answered by Rich Z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The reason it gets colder as you ascend up a mountain or up in the air in general is your Altitude from the ground. This has to do with many factors, a few are less air pressure - so less heat because air molecules are farther apart, as the air molecules climb they expand and in return cool. The troposphere (closest atmosphere layer to the earth, where weather occurs) cools at about 2 degrees celesuis per 1000 ft as gases expend and have less room to bump into one another. The Stratosphere is the next layer and it remains a fairly constant temp throughout. Once you get inside the Mesosphere it can get extremely cold -173 degrees Fahrenheit, Most of the heat from the sun is reflect past this point. Next is the thermosphere, tempertures can get around 440 degrees Fahrenheit when in direct sunlight.
In some cases, not neccessarily around mountains, temperature inversions can occur. At this point the air actually gets cooler until reaching the inversion, then reverses and gets warmer as you climb for a certain distance inside the inversion. This is mainly do to wind.
Hope any of this helps!
2007-04-01 06:41:56 · answer #2 · answered by skrapz_c24r 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
During the day it gets hotter, at night it gets colder. These are just theories because no one has tried climbing a mountain. If you climbed way up there the sun's gravity could get you and it would pull you off the earth. lol
That little bit of altitude change makes no difference with the suns heat. It gets colder because you are climbing higher, into the thinner regions of the earths atmosphere.
2007-04-01 05:13:52 · answer #3 · answered by tedead 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Though you are nearer the sun, the surrounding air is colder since it is farther away from the earth where the sun light falls and heats the earth and the air in contact. As the hot air raises, the expansion of the air cools it. Also, the air becomes thinner as we move up and the thermal energy is not transferred from one molecule to another as efficiently as at sea level. So, the air is cooler.
The heat that you feel is the total of radiation received from the sun, the convection due to the air currents and the conduction from the earth itself. Obviously, the convection is the dominant factor.
2007-04-01 05:12:15 · answer #4 · answered by Swamy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your no longer that plenty closer to the solar. The solar in ninety 3,000,000 miles away. maximum mountains are not extremely a extensive style miles extreme. So if your speaking regarding the tallest mountain (Everest) you're purely approximately 5.5 miles extreme. so which you have advance the radiative capability you're experiencing via ninety 3,000,0.5.5/ninety 3,000,000. So very small a upward thrust it would be difficult to degree different than via fairly comfortable gadgets. Now, upload to that the density of the air is dropping without postpone, meaning the air can't carry warmth to boot, you're in many situations up uncovered the less warm areas of the ambience, the wind speeds are in many situations larger (further wind relax), and there is way less ability of the air to circumvent dissipative radiation from cooling you (air can and does be able to hold in radiative warmth interior the comparable became a greenhouse does).
2016-12-15 13:44:13 · answer #5 · answered by lillibridge 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
when you climb a mountain, it gets colder because the atmosphere is thiner at a higher altitude. Secondly, you may be "nearer to the sun" but you are also closer to space, which is very cold.
2007-04-01 05:10:21 · answer #6 · answered by Sarah F 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The higher you go, the less atmosphere there is to hold heat in. For example, Flagstaff, in Arizona is 2,000 meters above sea level and has a temperature of 80 degrees F, unlike Phoenix, which is 20 degrees higher and just a measly 350 meters above sea level.
2007-04-01 05:19:38 · answer #7 · answered by swilliamrex 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the sun heats up the ground which then heats up the air, so the higher you get the colder it gets. if you go above the protective layer of the atmosphere you're gonna be exposed to the sun's deadly rays.
2007-04-01 07:23:39 · answer #8 · answered by neutron 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the ground absorbs and emits heat. The distance from the sun becomes relevant at many kilometers of altitude.
2007-04-01 05:20:36 · answer #9 · answered by MadScientist 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes i am
2007-04-01 05:10:42 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋