Facts about Sunlight

$0.00

This diagram introduces sunlight, the light produced by the Sun, the star at the centre of our solar system.


It gathers together some useful facts and introduces some important terms that you can check out in the next section.

Remember that:

  • As the Sun explodes with the force of a billion one-megaton nuclear bombs every second it gives off electromagnetic radiation.
  • Sunlight is a form of electromagnetic radiation.
  • The electromagnetic radiation given off by the sun includes all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum.
  • By the time sunlight has passed through the atmosphere and reaches the ground it contains infrared, visible, and ultraviolet wavelengths of light.
  • Viewed from the ground, sunlight contains a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
  • Viewed from outer space, sunlight contains all of the electromagnetic spectrum.
  • Without sunlight, life as we know it would not be possible because it carries the energy that plants need to grow and the heat that keeps the world warm.

Description

Facts about Sunlight

Facts about Sunlight

TRY SOME QUICK QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TO GET STARTED
Sunshine is important to human beings because without light we can't see.
Other names for sunlight include daylight, sunshine, visible light, light and electromagnetic radiation!
Sunlight can be described in terms of both waves and particles.

About the diagram

About the diagram
  • This diagram introduces sunlight, the light produced by the Sun, the star at the centre of our solar system.
  • It gathers together some useful facts and introduces some important terms concerning the Sun and the electromagnetic radiation it emits.
Remember that:
  • As the Sun explodes with the force of a billion one-megaton nuclear bombs every second it gives off electromagnetic radiation.
  • Sunlight is a form of electromagnetic radiation.
  • The electromagnetic radiation given off by the sun includes all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum.
  • By the time sunlight has passed through the atmosphere and reaches the ground it contains infrared, visible, and ultraviolet wavelengths of light.
  • Viewed from the ground, sunlight contains only a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
  • Viewed from outer space, sunlight contains the whole of the electromagnetic spectrum.
  • Without sunlight, life as we know it would not be possible because it carries the energy that plants need to grow and the heat that keeps the world warm.

Some key terms

The electromagnetic spectrum includes electromagnetic waves with all possible wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, ranging from low-energy radio waves through visible light to high-energy gamma rays.

  • There are no precisely defined boundaries between the bands of electromagnetic radiation in the electromagnetic spectrum.
  • The electromagnetic spectrum includes, in order of increasing frequency and decreasing wavelength: radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and gamma rays.
  • Visible light is only a very small part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Electromagnetic radiation is a type of energy more commonly simply called light. Detached from its source, it is transported by electromagnetic waves (or their quanta, photons) and propagates through space at the speed of light.

  • Electromagnetic radiation (EM radiation or EMR) includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, (visible) light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays.
  • Man-made technologies that produce electromagnetic radiation include radio and TV transmitters, radar, MRI scanners, microwave ovens, computer screens, mobile phones, all types of lights and lamps, electric blankets, electric bar heaters, lasers and x-ray machines.
  • At the quantum scale of electromagnetism, electromagnetic radiation is described in terms of photons rather than waves. Photons are elementary particles responsible for all electromagnetic phenomena.
  • The term quantum refers to the smallest quantity into which something can be divided. A quantum of a thing is indivisible into smaller units so they have no sub-structure.  A photon is a quantum of electromagnetic radiation.
  • A single photon with a wavelength corresponding with gamma rays might carry 100,000 times the energy of a single photon of visible light.

Energy is a property of matter and fields, which can be transferred between systems or transformed into different forms but cannot be created or destroyed.

  • Everything contains energy including all forms of matter and so all objects.
  • Energy is evident in all forms of movement, interactions between, and changes to the forms and properties of matter.
  • At an atomic level, energy is evident in the movement of electrons around the nucleus of an atom. Energy is stored in the nucleus of atoms as a result of the forces that bind protons and neutrons together.
  • Energy can be transferred between objects, and converted from one form to another, but cannot be created or destroyed.
  • Everything in the universe uses energy in one form or another.
  • When it comes down to it, matter is energy.
  • Light has energy but no mass so does not occupy space and has no volume.
  • Energy is often described as either being potential energy or kinetic energy.
  • Energy is measured in joules.

 

Solar radiation is the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun.

  • Electromagnetic radiation is a type of energy that is commonly known as light. Detached from its source, it is transported by electromagnetic waves (or by their quanta, particles called photons) and propagates through space.
  • Electromagnetic radiation includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, (visible) light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays.
  • Electromagnetic radiation is sometimes called EM radiation or electromagnetic radiant energy (EMR).
  • All forms of electromagnetic radiation can be described in terms of both waves or particles.
  • All forms of electromagnetic radiation travel at 299,792 kilometres per second in a vacuum.

Diagrams are free to download

Downloads: Slides or Illustrations


DOWNLOAD DIAGRAMS
  • SLIDES are optimized for viewing on-screen.
  • ILLUSTRATIONS are optimized for printing on A4 pages in portrait format.
SLIDES
  • Slides are available in JPG and AI (Adobe Illustrator) file formats.
  • Titles: Slides have titles.
  • Backgrounds: Black.
  • Size: 1686 x 1124 pixels (3:2 aspect ratio).
ILLUSTRATIONS
  • Illustrations are available in JPG and AI two file formats.
  • Titles: No titles.
  • Backgrounds: White.
  • Size: 1686 x 1124 (3:2 aspect ratio). So all illustrations reproduce at the same scale when inserted into Word documents etc.
  • Labels: Calibri 24pt Italic.

File formats: JPG & AI


DOWNLOAD THE DIAGRAM ON THIS PAGE AS A JPG FILE
  • JPG (JPEG) diagrams are 1686 x 1124 pixels (3:2 aspect ratio).
  • If a JPG diagram doesn’t fit your needs, you can download it as an AI (Adobe Illustrator) file and edit it yourself.
  • JPG files can be placed or pasted directly into MS Office documents.
DOWNLOAD THE DIAGRAM ON THIS PAGE AS AN AI file
  • All AI (Adobe Illustrator) diagrams are 1686 x 1124 pixels (3:2 aspect ratio).
  • All our diagrams are created in Adobe Illustrator as vector drawings.
  • Save as or export AI files to other formats including PDF (.pdf), PNG (.png), JPG (.jpeg) and SVG(.svg) etc.

Spelling: UK & US


We use English (UK) spelling by default here at lightcolourvision.org.

COPY & PASTING TEXT
  • After copy/pasting text please do a spell-check to change our spelling to match your own document.
DOWNLOAD DIAGRAMS
  • Download AI versions of diagrams to change the spelling or language used for titles, labels etc.
  • We are adding American English (US) versions of diagrams on request. Just contact us and let us know what you need.
  • When downloading JPG versions of diagrams, look out for JPG (UK) or JPG (US) in the download dialogue box.

Download agreement


DOWNLOAD AGREEMENT

Light, Colour, Vision & How To See More (https://lightcolourvision.org) : Copyright © 2015-2022 : MediaStudies Trust.

Unless stated otherwise the author of all images and written content on lightcolourvision.org is Ric Mann.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this website may be copied, displayed, extracted, reproduced, utilised, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or scanning without the prior written permission of MediaStudies Trust.

EXCEPTIONS

Exceptions to the above statement are made for personal, educational and non-profit purposes:

Before downloading, cutting and pasting or reproducing any information, images or other assets found on lightcolourvision.org we ask you to agree to the following terms:

  1. All information, images and other assets displayed and made available for download on the lightcolourvision.org website are copyright. This means there are limitations on how they can be used.
  2. All information, images and other assets displayed or made available for download are solely and exclusively to be used for personal, educational and non-profit purposes.
  3. When you find the resources you need, then part of the download process involves you (the user) ticking a box to let us (at lightcolourvision.org) know we both agree on how the material can be used.
  4. Please contact [email protected] before considering any use not covered by the terms of the agreement above.

The copyright to all information, images and all other assets (unless otherwise stated) belongs to:

The Trustees. MediaStudies Trust
111 Lynbrooke Avenue
Blockhouse Bay
Auckland 0600
New Zealand
[email protected]

We love feedback

Your name and email address will be used solely to provide you with information you have specifically requested. See our privacy policy at https://lightcolourvision.org/privacy/.


We welcome your feedback 🙂









    Note: The feedback form records the URL of the current page


    Thank you so much for your time and effort