Henry Reich explains why the Earth is so hot underground in this MinuteEarth video narrated by Emily Elert and animated by Omkar Bhagat.
Enjoy!
Tag: The Earth
Why Is The Sun Yellow And The Sky Blue?
Have you ever stopped to think why the sun looks yellow and the sky looks blue? Minute Physics explains in this video.
Enjoy!
Where Did Earth’s Water Come From?
MinuteEarth takes a look at where Earth’s water came from in this video animated by Ever Salazar.
Enjoy!
Earth didn’t have water when it formed, but it does now! How did it get wet?
All The Planets Fit Between The Earth And The Moon
Did you know: you can fit all of the planets in our Solar System in between the Earth and the Moon?
To illustrate the distance between the Earth and the Moon, reddit user PerplexingPotato posted an image that placed the other seven planets in our solar system between them.
Planet Average Diameter (km) Mercury 4,879 Venus 12,104 Mars 6,771 Jupiter 139,822 Saturn 116,464 Uranus 50,724 Neptune 49,244 Total 380,008
The average distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,400 km. And check it out, that leaves us with 4,392 km to spare.
So what could we do with the rest of that distance? Well, we could obviously fit Pluto into that slot. It’s around 2,300 km across. Which leaves us about 2,092 km to play with. We could fit one more dwarf planet in there (not Eris though, too big).
The amazing Wolfram-Alpha can make this calculation for you automatically: total diameter of the planets. Although, this includes the diameter of Earth too.
How Do Tornadoes Form?
Tornadoes are the most violent storms on Earth, with wind velocities that can exceed 200 miles per hour. How do these terrifying cyclones form? Meteorologist James Spann sheds light on the lifespan of tornadoes as they go from supercell thunderstorms to terrible twisters before eventually dissolving back into thin air.
How do tornadoes form? That is pretty easy to answer since there has been a large amount of study into the subject. They are usually the extreme result of a supercell thunderstorm. During the storm cold air and warm air combine in a set pattern: the cold air drops as the warm air rises. The warm air eventually twists into a spiral and forms the funnel cloud that we all associate with a tornado.
The formation of a tornado follows a clear set of steps. First there a change in wind direction and an increase in wind speed. This change occurs at an increasing altitude and creates an invisible horizontal spinning effect in the lower atmosphere. Next, rising air within the thunderstorm’s updraft tilts the rotating air from horizontal to vertical. Third, an area of rotation, 3-10 km wide is contained within a vast majority of the storm. This is where the strongest tornadoes form. Then a lower cloud base in the center of the storm becomes a rotating wall cloud. This area can be nearly rain-free. Lastly, a tornado develops and starts to wreak its destruction.
Once a tornado has formed, it follows a predictable life cycle. First, the mesocyclone(rotating air), along with the rear flank downdraft( RFD), starts moving towards the ground. A small funnel appears to build up at the bottom of a wall cloud. As the RFD reaches the ground, the surrounding dirt rises up, causing damage even to heavy objects. The funnel touches the ground immediately after the RFD, forming a tornado.
During the next stage the tornado’s main source of energy, the RFD, begins to cool. The distance the tornado covers, depends on the rate at which the RFD cools. If the RFD cannot further provide any more warm air to the tornado, it begins to die.
Lastly, with the tornado’s warm air supply cut, the vortex begins to weaken and shrivel away. As the tornado weakens, the mesocyclone also starts to dissipate, but a new mesocyclone can start very close to the dying one. Those are the basics of tornado formation and life.
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