Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord Larehip
We take so many things for granted and never really think about them. Well, now we will. So WITHOUT consulting ANY outside sources--no books, websites, magazines, TV programs, etc.--explain the following:
1. Why is the sky blue?
2. Why can we see through a transparent piece of glass?
3. Water boils at 212 degrees F or 100 degrees C at sea level. If we continue to heat it, it will flash to steam but it won't get any hotter. So what happens to the heat?
4. How does an air conditioner cool your house?
Remember: No looking to ANY external sources for an answer. Think you know a lot? Prove it--to yourself.
Clue: 3 and 4 actually work on the same natural principle.
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1) White light from the Sun is made up of every colour of the rainbow. As it travels through the air, air particles and moisture act as a prism, dividing the light. Light travels in wavelengths, and blue has the shortest wavelength. Therefore, it travels faster and as a result, spreads out more quickly.
2) Because glass is an amorphous solid and does not absorb the wavelengths that make up the visible light spectrum. It also has something to do with the way the atoms are arranged, but I'm not sure how to explain that.
3) Not sure.
4) Typical home air conditioners work the same way as a refrigerator. Freon or some other coolant gas is sucked into a compressor, and under high pressure it gets hot (ever wonder why the back of your fridge is hot? This is why). As the coolant moves through the compressor coils, it gets forced through tiny openings. Coolant gas evaporates at quite a low temperature, so when as it evaporates it absorbs the heat from the air being cycled into the unit. The heat dissipates through a heat sink and goes outside, while the cooled air is vented back into the room.