PHYSICS

Ch:3.3
“The Seasons”

Made by Komail Abbas

 The tilt of the Earth’s axis

• Earth orbits the sun once in a year or in 365 days

• Year is divided in 4 seasons: spring ,summer ,
autumn and winter.
• The axis is tilted by an angle of 23.5*.
• Earth is tilted for 6 months, the north pole is tilted
towards the sun and for 6 months it is tilted away
from Sun
 The Earth’s tilted axis explains:
• Different day lengths in summer and winter.
• Different temperatures in summer and winter.
• The varying height of the sun in the sky in
summer and winter.
 Day Length
The tilt of the axis means that there are regions of
the Earth that have very strange summer and
winters. In regions in the north inside the Arctic
Circle such as Canada, the sun doesn’t set in the
summer . These places are known as “Land of the
Midnight Sun”. In winter in these places ,the Sun
does not rise at all. This is called polar night.
This all happens because the northern hemisphere
faces the sun for longer as the Earth spins that’s
why Sun stay for a longer time each day.
 Temperature

The suns warms the Earth for longer each day. If

the rays hit the surface at 90* then more energy
hits per square meter per second. So the air
temperature increases more quickly. Some
people think that the earth gets otter in
summer,, so that’s false. The Earth Orbit is
nearly circular and it is slightly Closer to sun in
January each Year
 Height of the sun in the Sky
During the day the Sun is highest in the sky at
noon. The height the Sun reaches at noon
changes over the year. In summer it is higher
than it is in winter. This is also because of the
Earth’s tilted axis.
 Questions :-
1. In a country where it is summer, is the Earth’s
tilted towards the Sun or away from it ?
2. What would happen to the Seasons if the Earth’s
axis was not tilted ?
3. A student thinks that Sun is hidden behind
clouds at night. Why is this unlikely ?
4. How many times does the Earth orbits the Sun ?