How to land In Water
Land and Water: Crash Course Kids #16.1
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you know when we haven't hung out with
in a while this guy
what's up son you remember that the Sun
provides the earth with energy or warmth
and you know that the Earth's surface is
made up of different types of land and
water now it would probably make sense
that these different landforms and
bodies of water would absorb or soak up
the sun's heat at different rates right
well you're right it does but which one
absorbs more of the sun's energy land or
water and more importantly why let's
start with a refresher course on the Sun
we know the Sun as the star at the
center of our eight planet solar system
that provides us with heat we also know
that heat is a kind of energy that warms
things this energy starts in the Sun's
core it travels very slowly to the Sun
surface before it takes a super speedy
trip to earth in the form of light and
heat you and I can see and feel that
energy as sunlight but how much of all
of that energy that the Sun cooks up
actually makes it to us in the land and
the water on earth I know what will help
us figure this out a delicious pie graph
essentially 100% of the energy that
warms the earth comes from the Sun about
20% of that energy is absorbed by the
Earth's atmosphere in clouds
nearly 30% never makes it to the Earth's
surface and instead is bounced back out
to space by clouds and different gases
and particles in the atmosphere but
about half of the sun's incoming energy
just over 50% is absorbed by the Earth's
surface that is its land and water well
when that 50% of sunlight gets to earth
the land and water absorb or soak up its
warmth but like I mentioned before they
absorb this heat at different rates
so which one absorbs more of this heat
it's time to play land versus water okay
let's think of a place somewhere on
earth where land meets water is anyone
else thinking Beach let's take a look at
how the sun's energy is absorbed by both
the land and the water on our little
beach
hmm the land is all of the sand you see
right up to where the shoreline starts
and the water is the shoreline and all
of the ocean behind it so what happens
when the sun's energy hits the land well
the sunlight is absorbed by the sand
making the sand warm or even hot to the
touch
the longer the sand is exposed to the
Sun the more heat it absorbs now let's
take a close look at the land it's
darker in color than the water and
generally darker colored objects absorb
more heat than lighter colored objects
so when the same sunlight that warms the
sand hits the water next to it on our
little beach the water doesn't soak up
quite as much of that energy as the
landed instead the water reflects more
of it reflection is the opposite of
absorption instead of being absorbed by
the water some of the sun's energy is
bounced or reflected off of the water in
a different direction and lighter
colored things tend to reflect more heat
than darker colored things this is why
the water that's been under the same Sun
as the sand all day doesn't feel quite
as hot as the sand so when you get hot
after playing around on the sand all
afternoon and I really hope you've been
wearing sunscreen you can weight off in
the water to cool off that's what the
beach is all about right so it looks
like team land wins by which I mean it
absorbs more of the sun's energy and the
land absorbs more energy because darker
colored objects absorb more heat than
lighter colored objects and light
colored things like the water reflect
more of the sun's energy hey where'd the
Sun go oh right outside sounds like a
plan to me
you
