Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-02-02

are heaviest which are also the low
est, VIII retain the most neat;
while those which are higher ana there
fore lighter, will retain less of tue
earths heat and viii let the earth
get cold at great elevations, because
of the loss OF the heat radl1ted from
the earth itself.
A COMPARISON.
IL is true that we are nearer the
sun. the source of heat, when at the
top Of a mountain. than when in the
valley, but II we should ascend TO the
top OF the highest known mountain,
we should have gone only one ten
miillunth of the distance 10 the sun.
II there were small bonfire on the
mountains yonder, a little further than
two miles away. say 100000 inches, how
far should we have to approach to-
ward the Gre on the mountain to
equal the same relative proportion of
the whole distance. as the highest
mountain is of the distance to thu
SUM- Making the calculation we see
that one-tlftieth of an inch is the
same proportion OF 100000 inches that
10000 feet Is of the suns mean dis
lance. And we know that to approach
one-fiftieth of an inch nearer to a bon
fire two miles away would not make any
appreciable difference in the amount
of heat we receive from 1t.
WORK OF SUNSHINE,
Sunshine is sort of motion that
travels by oscillations. or waves, Of
the invisible ether that fills all space.
This vibration comes from the sun at
the rate of $4,000 miles per second.
The oscillations or waves, of the mys-
FERROUS ether are so rapid. the ether
being so fine and light. that the earth's
atmosphere. composed of particles so
large and gross III comparison with
ether does not take up the wave
motion of the either--does not get
warmed much by the passage of the
heat from the sun to the earth. But
upon striking the earth's surface, the
soil grains take up portion of this
motion and transmit 1t to the mole
cules of air IN contact with the earth,
causing the air molecules to oscillate or
vibrate more rapidly In little circuits
called waves" This vibration ex
pands the air, which rises. being dis
placed or forced upward by the
cooler and heavier air round about.
This Ia wind--the energy that drives
the sailship, turns the windmill etc,
and is an effect OF transformed sun
shine.
HEAT ENERGY IN WATER.
When sunshine falls on water, the
molecules at the surface are thrown
into violent motion, are separated from
one another, and rise as vapor into
the air. thence to fall as rain or snow,
and to return to the ocean, whence they
came.
Some of the energy of the sunshine,
however. does not rise In air currents
stored in the vapor of water, but goes
deeper into the soil there to be stored
in the form of the Increased motion
which 1t causes among the soil molecu-
les. This soil motion increases from
spring to midsummer and then gradu-
ally slows down during fall and win
ter. The annual increase or income of
heat from the sun Is about equal to
the annual out-go from the earth, since
the soil molecules can give up their
motion (heaD only by transmitting 1t TO
other moIecules--those of the air, the
water. the rocks This work of the
sun In giving to the earth the energy
of motion that causes plants to grow
and to turn all OF our ma
to be, for each cubic mile at
the earth's surface, % horse power;
and since 1s6.6s0 cubic miles of sunshine
arrive each second at any square foot
of the earth's surface, there Is about
one-seventh of a horse power of energy
exerted every second by the sunshine.
WORK OF THE AIR.
Thus IL is the atmosphere that keeps
the earth warm. 1t permits the short
either waves 10 passr through as they
come from the sun; but the motion
which these waves set up among the
earth molecules of the soil Is slower.
and these longer waves cannot pass
back through the air without setting