the higher the altitude the colder it becomes?

Question

but can anyone tell me why the closer u get to the sun it does not get hotter but colder???many thanks

Answer 1

Here is an excellent answer given by Yahoo participant "Pearlsawme" to a previous question like this:

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When gas is compressed in a thermally insulated vessel the gas is heated.When pressure increases temperature increases.Similarly if the gas is expanded in a thermally insulated vessel the gas is cooled.When the pressure decreases the temperature decreases. Near earth’s surface, the atmospheric pressure is very high.At a height of 30km from the surface, the pressure of air is almost zero.Though the hot air goes up; as it goes up the pressure decreases and volume increases (density decreases) and as per the gas equation the temperature decreases."

Answer 2

of course when u climb a mountain u will feel that it's colder? why? we have a scientific equation about this that every 1000 meters higher than the surface of the earth is 6 degrees colder...
it means for example the weather on the mountain which is 2000 meters is 12 degrees colder than on the surface...
about your 2nd question i should say the weather changes mostly upon the altitude and the pressure of the atmosphere... not the distance between us & sun.

Answer 3

Imagine a room. You pre-heat 100 bricks to some temperature and place them in the room. The room temperature will rise to a certain point. Now imagine the same room into which you place only 20 pre-heated bricks. Obviously the room temperature will be lower.

Air temperature is determined by the density of air molecules. They absorb and hold heat from the sun. As you go higher and higher, the density of molecules decreases so there is less heat from the sun being absorbed and held. Space is very, very cold for just that reason -- almost no molecules at all.

Answer 4

Eventhough the density of air is one of the reasons,the main reason for the decrease of temperature with height particularly in the troposphere is that the atmosphere is heated from the bottom.The air in the atmosphere is more or less transparent to the solar radiation,that means,absorbs very little thereby hardly causing any increase in its temperature.But the earth's surface composed of land and sea absorbs solar radiation and gets heated which in turn heats the atmospheric air directly above it by conduction.The heated air in the vicinity of ground then rises upwards as convection current causing mixing of air at different layers with differnt temperatures.As the heat is transfered from the bottom, the temperature decreases as you go up.Here the density of air also plays a part.
The solar radiation received is a short wave radiation and the reflected solar radiation from the earth's surface is a long wave radiation and the atmosphere can absorb only long wave radiation.So the atmosphere is heated from below and the temperature naturally decreases as you go up.

Answer 5

It's only true in troposphere. The air cools at an environmental adiabatic rate of 6~10 degrees/meter. Once you reach the tropapause (approx. 10km from the sea level), there's no temperature change. Once you're in the stratosphere, the temperature increases with height.

The reason the temperature decreases with height in troposphere is because air is more dense towards the ground.

Answer 6

That's right. The higher, the colder. Because you're still inside our atmosphere.

Answer 7

You are one of the few people that have figured it out. The REAL source of heat is the molten core of the Earth. When you climb a mountain you get further from the heat source and it gets colder. All the nonsense about that bright yellow light in the sky being hot is just another Global warming myth.

Answer 8

Simply because the air is thinner and it doesnt hold as much moisture.

Its the moisture in the air, that makes us "hot". Just as a warm tropical climate of 90 degrees will make us sweat, yet, and oven with 90 degrees wont feel as hot because there is no humidity in it.

Also, you "sweat" the moisture out of you and the lack of moisture in the air, tends to "wick" the moisture off your body, thus you will feel colder.

I wish you well...

Jesse

Answer 9

These bodies like earth trap in heat so it would seem like that only in an atmosphere.... otherwise it would get hotter!

Answer 10

the air gets thinner which does not retain heat as much thats why at the mountain tops there is snow on them even in the summer time and that it is harder for you to breath as well. air pressure is also not as strong as well