I am talking with a ‘flat-earth’ believer on another board. He asks why a small movement in earth’s (supposed) rotation can increase the heat from the sun from morning / evening to mid-day. Forgive me if this has been asked before, I did search but did not have much success which is probably why my explanations of the above are not working.
stuthulhu: Point a flashlight at a wall. You know the flashlight is delivering ‘x’ energy to that circle. Tilt the flash light at an angle. Now the circle stretches out into a bigger oval right? But it’s still just delivering x energy, so there’s less energy per unit of ‘area.’ The sun hitting the earth impacts things the same way. A ~30 degree angle, iirc, effectively halves the amount of energy being delivered to a spot.
But I agree with the others, if this guy has the capability to believe in flat earth, you may as well bang your head against a wall as talk to him.
Concise_Pirate: Flat earth believers cannot be persuaded with reason. Don’t waste your time.
But the answer is partly that things take time to warm up once the Sun is on them, and partly that at noon the Sun is at a steeper angle, therefore filtering through less atmosphere before reaching the ground.
bazmonkey: Problem number one: you’re talking to a flat-earther. Just so you know, he’s probably not even serious. I have yet to meet someone that’s both sane, and earnestly believes that hypothesis. I hate those guys… my heart is beating a little faster in anxiety just thinking about them. I wish I could afford to round them all up, take them to the South Pole (past their stupid ice wall), just to make the point.
The heat of the day is primarily due to how long it takes things to heat up. Just before daybreak is usually the coldest part of the day because it’s had all night to cool. At noon, yes, the light is hitting more directly and the heat from it is most intense. It’s *getting warmer* most quickly at this time, however, despite that, it’s not the hottest part of the day. Rather, it’s usually mid-afternoon, before sundown, that a given area sees its highest temperature, because it’s been warming all day.
If you want, check out an hourly weather forecast for a sunny day (try 85251, Scottsdale). 3-4pm is when it finally reaches its hottest.
PineapplePrincezz: http://scienceprojectideasforkids.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Insolation.jpg
This is a photo of how the angle affects the distance– it’s a lot easier to see how the angle we are at relative to the sun could make the sun so bright during the afternoon and dark at night
jdfarbs: Ask him , “Why doesn’t the sun fall down?” And “What causes the sun to rotate around the North Pole?”
Once he denounces gravity, you can go ahead and tell him he’s full of shit, and you never want to talk about this shit again.
[deleted]: [removed]
Justkiller91: Tell him to light a candle. Then tell him to stick his hand near the candle. He will find that its is hot. Now tell him to put an object infront of said candle at the same distance he placed his hand. Then tell him to put his hand infront of the object. He should find that the candle doesn’t feel as hot. This works just like the earth rotating. When in direct exposure to the sun it gets more energy therefore more heat. When its night the sun is blocked by the other side of the earth acting like the box in the above experiment. Also dont waste your time arguing with idiots. Your time is important and this person is not worth the effort. You cant fix ignorance sadly.
a1fredo33: Because if you throw a football a few degrees off you will hit a different part of the planet
slo1111: Small movements in the Earth’s rotation doesn’t make a large difference in temperature. Rotating 1 degree won’t make much of a change.
I’m not even certain how a flat earther would argue that means the Earth is flat.
kiwimac: Thanks. I’ll collate the answers and post that for the cove that I’m talking to. It is a real hassle especially those who add that extra dollop of ” But the Bible says it’s flat….”
mirayge: Heat is also an electromagnetic wave. If you can see outer space from where you are at night, the heat that was given from the sun is also radiating back into space. Cloud cover can be a warm fuzzy blanket keeping your area warm.
reinchelien: Because the angle of the Sun in relation to the point on ground where you are standing changes as the Earth rotates.
Our atmosphere scatters and absorbs sunlight. The more air the light from the Sun has to travel through, the less of it makes it to you on the ground. Less sun light, less energy, lower temperature. You can observe this scattering effect by noting that the color of the Sun’s light changes throughout the day from red to blue/white to red.
The same thing happens due to the Earth’s tilt in summer and winter. In summer the Sun’s light is more directly overhead than in winter. More atmosphere, less makes it to the ground.
Add to that, that for a fixed point on the ground the distance to the Sun changes as the Earth rotates/orbits the Sun. That also changes the amount of energy we get. You can observe this drop off of energy according to distance when driving at night. The headlights of an oncoming car get brighter as it approaches you.
Hope that helps. If your debate partner thinks that all cars adjust their headlights to be brighter as they approach your car, that the sun itself changes color, or that the atmosphere is doing something funky to allow someone in New York to see a red sunset while someone else simultaneously sees white sunlight in Los Angeles, then make them prove it.
harish_sahani: Even if you take 1 sec as a small time the earth moves about a 1000km in that time which is enough to cause temperature differential