Consider the following debate between two students regarding the energy given of
ID: 288333 • Letter: C
Question
Consider the following debate between two students regarding the energy given off by the Sun. Student 1: I think that the Sun gives off most of its energy at ultraviolet wavelengths because ultraviolet light is more intense than visible light and you always hear about ultraviolet causing sunburns. Student 2: Even though UV photons are more energetic than visible photons, the Sun simply gives off fewer ultraviolet photons and gives off way more visible and infrared photons. So I think that these longer wavelength photons account for most of the energy coming from the Sun. Do you agree or disagree with either or both of these students? Explain your reasoning.
Explanation / Answer
I will agree mostly with studen 1 , the explanation for this the energy of the wavelength increases with the frequency and decreases with the size of the wavelength . In other words, shorter wavelengths are more energetic than longer ones. This means that ultraviolet radiation is more energetic than infrared radiation. Due to this extra energy, shorter wavelengths tend to cause more harm than longer wavelengths . The more energy a wavelength has, the easier it is to disrupt the molecule that absorbs it. Ultraviolet light (which has the highest energy) can cause damage to DNA and other important cellular structures .
The range of electromagnetic energy emmitted by the sun is known as electromagnetic spectrum or solar spectrum lies mainly in three regions: Ultraviolet, Visible and Infrared. The solar spectrum extends from 0.29 micro meter (290nm) longer wavelength of ultraviolet region to over 3.2 micro meer (3200nm) in the far infrared. Most electromagnetic radiation from space is unable to reach the surface of the earth. Radio frequencies, visible light and some ultraviolet light makes it to sea level. Astronomers can observe some infrared wavelengths by putting telescopes on mountain tops.
Some wavelengths of infrared radiation pass through the earth's atmosphere , while other blocked.The main atmospheric constituents that prevents infrared radiation from reaching the earth's surface is water vapour, and to lesser extent carbondioxide.Far infrared radiation is emitted by cool objects such as planets and newly forrming stars but it does nit penetrate as far into the atmosphere as near infrared and as such we must place the detectors higher up. Visible light makes up only a tiny part of the spectrum , but it is the part that is most important to us. It ranges from red light (longest wavelength) through yellow, green, and blue to violet(shortest wavelength). Visible light is not blocked by the Earth's atmosphere , although clouds and dust can scatter some of the light back.Ultra violet radiation is obsobred by ozone at altitude of between 20km and 40km.