Rotation, Revolution, Tilt

Rotation

– The Earth Spins on an Axis that runs through the North and South

Poles.

The Result of this rotation is as clear as Night and Day. In Fact, the result is Night and Day.

The Earth rotates, or spins, from West to East and this is why we see the sun rise in the East and set in the West.

Revolution

– The Earth revolves around the Sun.

It makes one complete revolution

every365.25 days.

Our 365 day year is based

on the revolution of

the Earth around the

Sun.

Because of the .25 day difference,

every fourth year we include an extra day

in February (Feb. 29). We call this

Leap Year.

Tilt The Earth’s Axis is not

perpendicular to the Sun’s Rays. If it were, every day

would have as many hours of daylight as darkness. You may have noticed that this is not the

case.

The Earth’s Axis is tilted 23.5*.

Solar Energy

Rotation, Revolution, and Tilt all work together to determine the amount of Solar Energy that is

reaching a spot on Earth at any given time.

Night & Day - The First, and most obvious, way that the amount of Solar Energy is

varied is Night and Day.

The Sun’s Rays can only hit half of the Earth at once. Therefore, as the Earth Rotates, the area facing the Sun experiences Daylight while the area facing away from the Earth experiences

night.

nightday

Seasons – As the Earth Revolves around the Sun, its Tilt causes some areas to receivemore direct sunlight than others.

The Direct rays of the Sun migrate between 23.5* N (the Tropic of

Cancer) and 23.5*S (the Tropic of Capricorn) over the course of a year. As the Sun’s direct rays

move, the Seasons are caused to

change.

When the Sun’s rays are directed towards the Southern Hemisphere, it is Summer in the South Latitudes while the

Northern Hemisphere experiences Winter.

Weather & Climate

– All changes in weather are the result of variations of heating from

Solar Energy hitting the Earth’s surface.

It is Solar Energy that causes the

winds to blow and the

Ocean Currents to

move. Solar Energy

causes the rain and even the snow.

Earth, Sun, and the Moon

The Sun and the Moon both have a

gravitational pull on the Earth. We see the effects of this in the ocean’s Tides.

The Daily tides arrive twice: when the Moon is overhead and again when the Moon is overhead on the opposite

side of the Earth.

The Neap Tides are low tides that occur when the Sun’s pull is

countered by the Moon’s gravitational pull.

Neap Tides

Spring Tides – Spring Tides are extraordinarily large tides. These occur

when the Sun and Moon are aligned pulling together against the Earth.

Spring Tides

This concludes today’s episode of…