The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1873-06-19
70 BE oONTIsuHp, {
re Heat e &c snn.

INTO view. ms $500. ...-.. -'-.,.,, =.
II Is not many years since the grand
doctrne- Of the Conservation OF energy
became recognized as enc ofsthef ffnndaz
mental truths. Of srienee. Philosophy had
half realized that force could not be crea-
ted, but the expsrimental proof was
wanting. II renamed for Rumford and
DaYy, Mayer and Joule, HeImheltz and
OlAusios, 10 place the doctrine fairly M
on its fest IS one of the mightiest facts of
the unlVsrss. It's establishment rsvolu-
tlom1ed edepAEtments Of thouphf.@
Theores abont mysterious fluids asd i'm
ponderable agencies were banished. forever
from the domain Of physics. And men
were soon taught to look upward 70 the
sun as the man source Of ftalf the acfive
physical energy tllcb makes q : esrtk q
habItable planet. We now Know that
without the suns light and heat, no lie
could exist on earth. Not 4 breath could
be drawn, not a melton made, not tiow-
er develop from its seed. The wind. the
currents of ocean, the evaporation of wa
ter, the formation of rain. hail. and snow
all would cease. Earth would become
dead and dreary waste. The very rivers
would no longer run, and the seas would
De trSzen solid. What subject. then.
could be more fruitful of speculations than
the sum- Its heat must be measured. its
temperature determined, its physical
character made out. Much of this work
has been DONE yet vastly more remains
to be accomplished. Let us look at some
of the results thus far obtained, & glance
at a few problems which the future has
yet to solve. We will eonfne ourselves
to the one subject of the solar heat.
Three great cardinal questions at once
- krz4,,, - Il.
of the sum- How much heat does it
emit in given timer And from what
source Is its energy derived? Each of
these problems involves the consideration
Of minor ones, and is the center of the
most fascinating speculations.
The first of these questions is still far
from being settled. Tbs data necessary
for answering 1t are but imperfectly un-
derstood. And yet two things may be
regarded as certain. The temperature of
the sun is Gpquestionably very high, per-
haps so high as to battle human concep-
ton. This We know from the spectre
scope, which reveals to us the presence of
metallic vapors In the solar atmosphere.
Iron, nickel, cobalt, tltannlum, and many
other of our most refractory substances,
substances which melt only with extreme
difficulty, are actually boiling IN the sun.
and giving of vapor as water gives of
steam. That the solar surface is intensely
hot cannot be doubted. The other point
which we may consider reasonably settled,
is that the suns temperature is different
at different points. This is indicated by
the mottled surface of the fiery globe,
whose dark spots, ridges, and streaks of
varying brightness tell us plainly of une-
quail degrees of heat. A great amount of
evidence could be easily brought forward
to demonstrate this proproaotion.
The sun, then, is hot; but hosO hot2
Here we are hsfled Many estimates
have been made which show astonishing
variations. One is as low as 5000 deg.
Fair. Zollner has placed the solar tenn
perature at 123. 600 deg. Fair. Ericsson,
however, having loftisr ideas, says i. .036,-
600 deg. Fahr. and Father Secchi will
not stop short of 19 100000 deg FAIR
Here is discordance on a grand scale 1t
serves, however, to illustrate the difficult
ty of the problem. Quite strangely, one
of Secchi's own spectostrophIc observa-
tions lends strong support to the lowest
of all these guesses. He claims that he
has detected the lines of aqueous vapor in
the spectrum of a solar spot. But aque-
GUS vap0r is decomposed into its elements
deg. Fair. So that, if Secchi is right In
this, his own estimate must give way; the
temperature of the solar spots must be
marked down at once, and that of the
suns average surface with them. Let us
bear in mind that the higher and more
astonishing estimatesiare based upon GER
tain theories of radiation which may have
been revised.
Leaving the question of the solar tenn
perature, let US ask the quantity of heat
which is given out by the sun. Here we
have to deal with subject which is es-
sentially different from that of tempera-
ture, and much easier to handle. The
data are more simple and moro certain.
Knowing the distance of the SUI from our
planet, and assuming that it radiates heat
equally in all directions, we are able to
calculate how large proportion of the
energy emitted ia received by the earth
This being determined, we can ascertain
by experiment the quantity of heat which
we actually receive, and by simple null
tiplication learn how much the sun gives
out. Now, it has been found that, Of the
total heat emitted, our planet receives
but the 1-2138000 part. That which falls
upon one quarter of the terrestrial sur
face at t. equator at noon, is sufficient
TO melt 26, 600 tons of ice per hour. And
that which falls upon the whole surface
of the earth in year would be able to
liquify layer of ice 100 feet thick wholly
enveloping the planet. This is the heat
which is manifested in the evaporation of
oceans. 1t raises their waters to the
mountain tops, thence to flow down to the
sea in rivers. The water powers of the
world, from the great Falls of Niagara
l lz,--,, 4, 4ba raRfiaof riv,v,la -
are products of this energy 1t enables
plants to grow and animals to breathe: It
governs glaciers and avalanehes; it stor-
ed up, ages ago, our beds of coal. And
yet It is but the 1-2l38Q00 part of the
total heat radiated by the sun. The total
can be expressed IN a variety of striking
forms, which not absolutely exact, give
US admirable approximate ideas of the
immensity of cur great luminary.
The total heat emitted by the sun, then,
would lnelI stratum of ice completely
surrounding it, at the rate of 2, 400 feet of
thickness per hour. Herschel says that
i if column of ice forty-five miles in di-
ameter were to be darted into the sun
with the velocity of light $4,000 miles
per second), the heat radiated from the
solar surface would be Just consumed in
/ melting it, while the actual temperature
of the vast globe would be unaltered.
The constant expenditure of the sun Wo'd
be balanced, and no more. Tyndall gives
/ Us still another expression of this Yoa-
.derful amount of power. He says that
the heat given out by the sun is sufficient
to raise zoe, 600, 900, 900 of cubic miles oi
ice cold water to bsiling, every hour
Tho heat necessary to elevate the temper
ature of single pound of water in sin
gle degree, if converted into work, would
lift a weight of 772 pounds one foot high
What a stupendous weight, therefore
would be raised by the whole thermal
energy of the san No wonder that the
planets keep obediently In their places
under the influence of so vast q power
Yet the sun, grand as 1t is, is compare.
lively but small star. and is rushing on.
ward through space with Vast velocity
responding to some attractive agency stil
mightier than its own.
From what source is this astonishing
amount of solar energy supplied Tho
sun cannot create force. Al its loss mns
be made good, or else in time it viii coo
down to dead globe, unable to warm ol
light us. That some source of supply
must exist is evident; for the sun ha
been shining upon our planet for thou
sands of years of historical time, durinJ
which period our climate has not appre
eiably changed. Century after century