Cold? sun light untill it interacts with oxygen

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the nature of sunlight as it travels through space and its interaction with the Earth's atmosphere, particularly focusing on temperature changes and energy transfer. Participants explore concepts related to light, heat, and the effects of sunlight on the surrounding environment.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that sunlight may be cool when traveling through space and heats up the surrounding area upon interacting with the oxygenated atmosphere.
  • Another participant clarifies that light does not have a temperature but can influence the temperature of objects it interacts with, comparing this to the concept of gravitons.
  • A later reply agrees with the idea that the heat from the sun dissipates and that it is the interaction of light with the atmosphere that results in heating.
  • A participant provides a link to another thread, indicating there may be additional relevant discussions on the topic.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on whether light itself can be considered hot or cold, and there is no consensus on the exact nature of temperature changes as sunlight travels through space and interacts with the atmosphere.

Contextual Notes

Some assumptions about the nature of light and temperature are not fully explored, and the discussion does not resolve the complexities of energy transfer in this context.

Robin07
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Hello everyone, I've been on Electrical Engineering for a little while but new to this aspect of science.

I'm not sure of course but when sunlight travels through space, would it be the approximate temperature of its' surrounding area, pretty cool? And when it hits our oxygenated atmosphere it, or the surrounding area heats up? I find this interesting because, we would assume that when the light is closest to the sun it would naturally be hot then leaving from this ball of fire it cools down and then heats up when it gets here. I understand that energy cannot be destroyed and that it only changes state, is this what's happening here?

Robin07
 
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I'm not exactly sure how to put this. Light doesn't actually have a temperature, but it can affect the temperature of things that it interacts with. Saying that light is 'hot' is sort of like saying that a graviton is 'heavy'. Somebody else had better handle this; it's a bit out of my realm.
 
OK. silly question... I think you have clarified it very well. So I would say that the heat that is being created by the sun has very much dissipated and it's the surrounding area that the light interacts with is heated up.

Thanks
 

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