why is space cold?

[Ranga-G]

yeah i was thinking about this a little while back at work (which ended up with me slicing my finger for not paying attention) and i couldnt figure it out. as just about anyone can tell you space is cold but it really doesnt make sense to me. through my basic knowlegde of physics i know that heat is caused by the atoms that make up everything vibrating and the more they vibrate the hotter something is, and that heat is transferred by the atoms hitting each other and making them vibrate. but if space is a vacuum, then there are no particles for the atoms to lose their energy too, and the energy cant just disappear. so why the hell is space cold gonk . is there anyone out there that knows the answer?  

[DNA_Guru]

Energy always exists, but it doesn't weaken. Space is cold because there are no particles for the energy to vibrate through thus not creating heat. If you got within a kilometre of the sun you'd feel the energy but that's because the hydrogen atoms make it so.

But really you answered your own question, there is no particles for it to vibrate, just because there is no warmth doesn't mean the energy is not there, it can travel to a humble place such as our Earth.  

[Beautiful Grotesque]

eek What the...? eek

 

[DNA_Guru]

No spam thanks. If you don't have anything to add, don't.  

[The Milleh Machine]

Because of the fact that there are no particles in space, nothing to vibrate=no heat.
That is also why if you scream in space, nobody will hear you.
You know, unless you yell into a radio. xD
And would you look at that, I remeber Science Calss. :3

 

[Phantom-Deks]

DNA_Guru

Energy always exists, but it doesn't weaken. Space is cold because there are no particles for the energy to vibrate through thus not creating heat. If you got within a kilometre of the sun you'd feel the energy but that's because the hydrogen atoms make it so.

But really you answered your own question, there is no particles for it to vibrate, just because there is no warmth doesn't mean the energy is not there, it can travel to a humble place such as our Earth.

im only going to repeat this if i say anything anyway.  

[Corbin DeSeer]

Well, im far too lazy to look anything up at 2:15am after work, but my understanding is, that there is no such thing as a complete absence of matter. Matter can not be completely destroyed, and/or vanish, it can merely be made smaller. This is best described through the half life of radiation, and the like. 'Half-life' is the period of time, in which the radiation level, is halved. For example, if a fish is poisoned by radiation, and the half-life of that radiation is say 2 years, then after two years, the numeric level will be half. The numeric level is infinite, at that, and isn't limited to whole numbers. (Rant of glory, sorry.) In any case, if there is always matter, then there is always particles.

Next, the reason a planet like earth has heat, is primarily because of the atmosphere. Past the planet's own atmosphere, there is none. No atmosphere in open space, means tre is no heat being held in, it is left to roam as radiation and U.V rays, yet given the vastness of open space, it is insignificant. Oxygen also has a part in it, I however like I said, cant be bothered to research any of this, and hence back up my theory. Ignore my tired, soar rambles.  

[WellzY]

The planet itself generates its own heat as well you know. And it's like... nasty too. >_>  

[FickleLikeAPickle]

space is only cold if your not in sunlight...if you are you'd fry  

[[Jena.Tahlia]]

mon2bon

space is only cold if your not in sunlight...if you are you'd fry

true true but yeah it is the lack of particals that make it cold buddy  

[scruffy012]

Hint:- if you want the basic answer, go to bottom paragraph, if you want reasoning follow through, and compare space to Earth

yeah thats pretty accurate, and i cant be stuffed also to do further research... pretty much the majority of radiation out in space is Electromagnetic Radiation, which doesnt require particles to travel along, unlike compression (sounds waves). Since this EMR covers pretty much everything between low energy low frequency Radio waves (and below) all the way up to very high frequency and energy, Cosmic Rays (and above) [if all that makes sense] but we'll focus on U.V Radiation and it effects on Ozone (sorry for the chem lect coming up)

when UV Radiation hits an O3 (Ozone) molecule it splits into O2 (dioxygen) and singular O (oxygen), and since it required energy to break the bond, itll be a exothermic reaction (please debate me on this, as im only guessing) this energy will be released as a variety of things from light to heat

UV + O3(gas) --> O2(gas) + O(gas) + Energy (kJ)

this heat then gets sent towards the earth through the various spheres and gets trapped, resulting in the alleged "Global Warming" theory.... basically think LARGE SCALE...

But to get back on track, thats oe of the many ways why Earth gets heated, and that slab i jsut ripped out of my arse, so its probably (and most likely) wrong to some degree...

But space whilst it has particules out there, there isnt enough molecules to transmit heat, and therefore it cold, and Earth is heated, by a vast variety of reasons, and the UV EMR is energy released by the sun that hits earth and heats it up.

(Thats probably the biggest load of bullshit ive ever written razz  

[kruegs]

Solid, liquid, or gas matter is required for heat transfer. As space lacks all these things, heat is not able to be transferred. However, direct rays from the sun will heat you, since light is energy that can travel through space. Once it contacts matter, the energy is transformed into heat. biggrin  

[WellzY]

Scruff -- I dunno about O3 --> O2 + O as being exothermic. Not that I know what it really is, but yeah.


The heating that occurs on theEarth is soooooooooooooooo complex it's not funny. Basixally eversingle complex you can think of is involved one way or another. For one thing, the Earth does heat itself, from the radiation of radioavtice products already pressent within the planet, not to mention the convection of the tectonic plates across the magma, etc.  

[EmWah]

Ohh yeah. I have a diagram of how the earth stays warm somewhere. We're learning all about it at the moment.

Pretty much it's the Earth's outgoing terrestrial radiation that keeps us warm, as most of the incoming solar radiation is reflected back out. So the outgoing terrestrial radation warms up the atmosphere, and the atmosphere insulates us like a nice big blanket.