Why does the sun appear to change places in sunset?

Question

I am only 11 so please don't write any complicated words, (i know parallax though). I NEED TO KNOW WHY the sun is in different places when it sets, throughout the year. This is for a project.

simple answers plz, (im really thickheaded)

Answer 1

Because the Earth's axis of rotation is tilted. You know how globes are usually mounted on a stand at an angle, with the north pole not exactly straight up? That is showing the tilt. Imagine a giant table with the Sun in the middle and the Earth going around it at the edge of the table. Keep the base so that the tilt always points the same way. Then as it goes around sometimes it will lean toward the Sun and half way around the table, if you keep it pointing the same way, it will be leaning away from the Sun. This makes our view from the surface of the Earth change for different parts of the table. Now as the earth spins on its axis (spin the globe), the Sun rises and sets for tiny people on that globe. (Don't worry about them falling off, gravity pulls then toward the center of the globe.) Depending on which way the stand is tilting the Sun may rise and set in slightly different places for them.

Answer 2

I doubt you're thickheaded. This is a really tough thing to explain, especially in just a few paragraphs. Let me take a crack at it.

As Campbell mentioned, Earth's rotation axis is tilted. Globes are built so that the spin at an angle -- not straight up and down. Sometimes, the Sun shines straight down on the equator. At other times, like in June, it shines down on the Northern Hemisphere. In December, it shines on the Southern Hemisphere. That's why we have seasons.

The Earth's tilt stays the same way all the time as it orbits around the Sun. So if you kept your lamp level with the globe, and moved the globe around the lamp, that would be how the Earth orbits. This diagram shows what I mean: http://www.schenectady.k12.ny.us/users/title3/Future%20Grant%20Projects/Projects/rotationrevseasons/Final%20Project/Seasons.jpg .

If the Sun's above the equator, it will look like it's either straight above (if you happen to be at the right spot) or due east or due west in the sky. It won't be towards the north or the south. On this day, the Sun will rise due east and set due west.

When the Sun is shining on the Northern Hemisphere, it's further north in the sky. On that day, it will rise somewhere in the northeast and set somewhere towards the northwest. On the other hand, when the Sun is above the Southern Hemisphere, it will be more south in the sky. Then it will rise southeast and set southwest.

Hope that helps. It's really better if you have someone there to talk about it with you, so you might have more luck talking with your teacher or mom and dad. Even then it's tough to understand. This is something college students really struggle with. If you manage to get it even a little bit you should be very proud of yourself.

Answer 3

The Earth is tilted about 23.5 degrees with respect to it's orbital plane.

As it moves around the sun, we see the sun's angle shift because of our tilt. For example - during June, the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun. Anyone living in the northern hemisphere will have a longer day than night (and at the north pole, the sun will never set. Now, as the Earth moves to the other side of it's orbit, the night is longer - where we see the sun rise and set moves steadily south until the the first day of winter (the winter solctice, about December 21), when we start moving toward spring again.

Answer 4

The Earth is tilted compared to our orbit around the sun. So as the Earth moves around the sun, where you are keeps changing angles to the sun during the year.

So picture a basketball and a lamp. Tilt the basketball about a quarter of the way towards the lamp. Now, without changing the angle of the ball, move it around the lamp (like Earth's orbit).
If you put a dot on the ball that is you, then you can imagine how the height of the sun above the horizon (and the rising and setting points) change as you go around the sun.

Answer 5

The earth tilts back in the winter, sun will set closer to the south. In the summer the earth tilts forward and the sun will set closer to the west.