Concept explainers
Rainbows How is a rainbow formed? Recall that the index of refraction of a medium is slightly different for different colors. When white light from the Sun enters a spherical raindrop, as shown in Figure 22.25, the light is refracted, or bent After reflecting off the back surface of the drop, the light is refracted again as it leaves the front surface.
Each drop separates the colors of light. An observer on the ground with her back to the Sun sees at most one color of light coming from a particular drop (see Figure 22.26). If the observer sees rod light from a drop (for example, the top drop in Figure 22.26). the violet light for that same drop is deflected above her head. However, if she sees violet light coming from a drop lower in the sky the red light from that drop is defected below her eyes onto the ground She sees red light when her line of view makes an angle of
Earth energy balance Gases in Earth's atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and water vapor act like a blanket that reduces the amount of energy that Earth radiates into space. This phenomenon is called the greenhouse effect. Without the greenhouse effect most of Earth would have a climate comparable to that of the polar or subpolar regions What would Earth's mean surface temperature be, in the absence of the gases causing the greenhouse effect?
The Sun continually irradiates our upper atmosphere with an intensity of about
About
To maintain a constant temperature, Earth's radiation rate must equal its energy absorption rate from the Sun A fairly simple calculation indicates that the two rates are equal when the average surface temperature of Earth is 255 K or about
Over the past two centuries the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has increased from a pre- industrial level of about 270 parts per million to 380 parts per million. This increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases has been caused by the burning of fossil fuels and the removal of forests, which absorb carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is expected to reach 600-700 parts per million by 2100. If that occurs, it will be warmer in 2100 than at any time in the last half million years.
The Sun irradiates Earth’s outer atmosphere at what rate?
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionChapter 22 Solutions
College Physics: Explore And Apply, Volume 2 (2nd Edition)
- A Fermats principle of least time for refraction. A ray of light traveling in a medium with speed v1 leaves point A and strikes the boundary between the incident and transmitted media a horizontal distance x from point A as shown in Figure P38.98. The refracted ray travels with speed v2 in the second medium, eventually reaching point B. The horizontal distance between points A and B is L. a. Calculate the time t required for the light to travel from A to B in terms of the parameters labeled in the figure. b. Now take the derivative of t with respect to x. What is the condition for which the ray of light will take the shortest time to travel from A to B? Figure P38.98arrow_forwardLight in medium A undergoes a total internal reflection as it reaches the interface with medium B. Which of the following statements must be true (choose all that apply)? (a) nB nA (b) nB nA (c) All light rays that undergo a total internal reflection travel along the interface between the two materials. (d) Light traveling in the opposite direction, from B into A, cannot undergo a total internal reflection.arrow_forwardYou are working for a solar energy company. Your supervisor has asked you to investigate a new idea that has been proposed for a solar collector. A large sphere of glass focuses light on photocells, as shown in Figure P35.22. The photocells are moved by electronics along the curved track to the right of the sphere. Your supervisor would like to build a prototype of a material with index of refraction n, but needs for you to calculate the position at which the Suns rays focus and, therefore, to find where to locale the curved track. Figure P35.22arrow_forward
- A ray of light is incident at an angle 30.0 on a plane slab of flint glass surrounded by water. (a) Find the refraction angle. (b) Suppose the index of refraction of the surrounding medium can be adjusted, but the incident angle of the light remains the same. As the index of refraction of the medium approaches that of the glass, what happens to the refraction angle? (c) What happens to the refraction angle when the mediums index of refraction exceeds that of the glass?arrow_forwardUnreasonable results Suppose light travels from water to another substance, with an angle of incidence of 10.0and an angle of refraction of 14.9 . (a) What is the index of refraction of the other substance? (b) What is unreasonable about this result? (c) Which assumptions are unreasonable or inconsistent?arrow_forward
- Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Foundations...PhysicsISBN:9781133939146Author:Katz, Debora M.Publisher:Cengage LearningPhysics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern ...PhysicsISBN:9781337553292Author:Raymond A. Serway, John W. JewettPublisher:Cengage LearningPhysics for Scientists and EngineersPhysicsISBN:9781337553278Author:Raymond A. Serway, John W. JewettPublisher:Cengage Learning
- Principles of Physics: A Calculus-Based TextPhysicsISBN:9781133104261Author:Raymond A. Serway, John W. JewettPublisher:Cengage LearningCollege PhysicsPhysicsISBN:9781305952300Author:Raymond A. Serway, Chris VuillePublisher:Cengage LearningCollege PhysicsPhysicsISBN:9781285737027Author:Raymond A. Serway, Chris VuillePublisher:Cengage Learning