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NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne What if the sun vanished? 
Name: observe
Status: N/A
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 1999
Question:
Given that the earth does generate some of its own heat due to radioactive decay, what would the temperature of the earth tend to if the sun suddenly and inexplicably vanished?

Replies:
I'm not sure how one would do calculations to answer this question, but it occurred to me that we have places on earth where the sun's influence is nearly absent for extended periods -- the Arctic and Antarctic regions during their respective winters. Since the rest of the Earth is receiving warmth from the sun at those times, and since surely some of that warmth makes its way to the poles, I think it is reasonable to conclude that, at best, the heat from the earth's interior would be able to maintain worldwide temperatures no higher than those we now find at the poles. And I'd be willing to guess that temps would drop quite a lot lower than even that.

rcwinther


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