Question

While most of the sun's light is in the visible part of the spectrum, most of the energy re-radiated out by the Earth is in the ________ part of the light spectrum.

Answer 1

The energy re-radiated out by the Earth is predominantly in the infrared part of the light spectrum, even though the Sun's light reaching Earth contains significant visible light.

Step-by-step explanation:

Most of the Sun's light is in the visible part of the spectrum. However, most of the energy re-radiated out by the Earth is in the infrared part of the light spectrum. The Sun radiates like a nearly perfect blackbody, with a 6000 K surface temperature. Approximately half of the solar energy arriving at Earth is in the infrared region, with most of the rest in the visible spectrum and a small amount in the ultraviolet. After absorbing solar energy, Earth emits energy back into space mostly in the form of infrared radiation due to its lower temperature compared to the Sun.