Environmental Studies · Physics

Solar Radiation and Energy

876 Questions

Enhance your general science knowledge with these questions on solar radiation and energy. The topics span solar thermal power plants, photovoltaic devices, and the sun's energy output. This material is useful for environmental studies and physics.

Solar energy conversionSun luminosity and compositionAtmospheric reflectionSolar thermal technology

Solar Radiation and Energy Questions

Multiple choice geography temperature process of heat transfer in the atmosphere temperature and insolation sun: the ultimate source

The state of equilibrium that exists on Earth between insolation and terrestrial radiation is called ___________.

  1. insolation

  2. heat balance

  3. heat equilibrium

  4. none of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Earth receives solar radiation in the form of short-wave solar radiation and the radiation is sent back to space in the form of longwave terrestrial radiation. In the absence of such a balance the earth would be getting progressively colder or progressively warmer. This balance between the amount of insolation received from the sun and outing outgoing terrestrial radiation is known as earth's heat budget or heat balance.

Multiple choice

Thermal energy from the sun and gravity are the engine of the water cycle because...

  1. Gravity allows water to evaporate

  2. The sun allows water evaporation and causes rain or snow

  3. Gravity moves the air and makes the wind

  4. Gravity allows water to go from the atmosphere to the ground
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The water cycle is driven by solar energy (causing evaporation) and gravity (causing precipitation to fall and water to flow downhill). Option D correctly identifies gravity's role in moving water from the atmosphere to the ground.

Multiple choice

Thermal energy from the sun and gravity are the engine of the water cycle because...

  1. A part of it evaporates directly or through plants (evaporation)

  2. Part evaporates another part infiltrates, another circulates through runoff

  3. Part of the water is runoff water along streams and rivers
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The sun provides the energy for evaporation, while gravity drives the movement of water through infiltration and surface runoff. Option B correctly summarizes these pathways.

Multiple choice physics energy : forms and sources concept of energy energy for everything forms of energy

The energy generated in stars is because of

  1. radioactivity

  2. nuclear fission

  3. nuclear fusion

  4. photo electric phenomenon
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Energy is produced in a star's center, where pressures are enormous and temperatures reach 27 million°F (15 million°C). This causes nuclear fusion—atoms of hydrogen are ripped apart and fuse (join) to form helium. These reactions release vast amounts of energy, which makes the star shine.

Multiple choice physics spectra sunlight - white and coloured sunlight - combination of 7 lights fibre optics basics

Line spectrum is obtained from the :

  1. Sun

  2. Filament of the bulb

  3. Mercury lamp

  4. Burning coal
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

As a light source, we will use a mercury lamp, which emits light at several discrete wavelengths. The device we are using is called a prism spectrometer because, once the prism is calibrated, it can be used to measure the wavelengths of the lines in the spectra produced by various atoms.

Multiple choice physics save energy types of sources of energy renewable and non-renewable resources renewable and non-renewable sources of energy

What term is known as when the solar energy fall on the Earth's atmosphere exposed perpendicularly to the rays of the Sun at the average distance between the Sun and Earth?

  1. Solar panel

  2. Solar Constant

  3. Solar Time

  4. Solar Energy
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Solar constant is defined as the rate at which per unit area of the Earth's atmosphere receives the Sun's energy, when the Sun is at the mean distance from the Earth. Value is about 1388 watts per square metre.

Multiple choice geography environmental changes elements of weather and climate : temperature process of heat transfer in the atmosphere environmental regions (zones)

______________ is the radiant energy emitted by the sun from a nuclear fusion reaction that creates electromagnetic energy.

  1. Solar Radiations

  2. Alpha Radiations

  3. Beta Radiations

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Solar radiation is the radiant energy emitted by the sun from a nuclear fusion reaction that creates electromagnetic energy.
Solar radiation is radiant energy emitted by the sun from a nuclear fusion reaction that creates electromagnetic energy. The spectrum of solar radiation is close to that of a black body with a temperature of about 5800 K. About half of the radiation is in the visible short-wave part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Multiple choice geography environmental changes elements of weather and climate : temperature process of heat transfer in the atmosphere environmental regions (zones)

The sun's radiation is made up of  _________.

  1. white light, infrared and ultraviolet radiation

  2. red light, infrared and ultraviolet radiation

  3. green light, infrared and ultraviolet radiation

  4. blue light, infrared and ultraviolet radiation
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

White light, infrared and ultraviolet radition
Radiation from the Sun. Radiation from the Sun, which is more popularly known as sunlight, is a mixture of electromagnetic waves ranging from infrared (IR) to ultraviolet rays (UV). It of course includes visible light, which is in between IR and UV in the electromagnetic spectrum.

Multiple choice geography environmental changes elements of weather and climate : temperature process of heat transfer in the atmosphere environmental regions (zones)

The amount of the solar energy received by the earth is called _________.

  1. insolation

  2. radiation

  3. heat

  4. none of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Our sun is the main source of energy and heat. It provides solar energy or fuel for the process of weather and climate. The energy emitted by the sun is known as solar radiation. The incoming solar radiation to the earth is known as insolation.

Multiple choice geography environmental changes elements of weather and climate : temperature process of heat transfer in the atmosphere environmental regions (zones)

Solar wind contains __________.

  1. atomic energy

  2. atomic heat

  3. charged particles

  4. none of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Charged particles,

The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. This plasma consists of mostly electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy between 0.5 and 10 keV. Embedded within the solar-wind plasma is the interplanetary magnetic field.

Multiple choice geography environmental changes elements of weather and climate : temperature process of heat transfer in the atmosphere environmental regions (zones)

What percentage of incoming solar radiation is able to reach the earth?

  1. $5$%
  2. $10$%
  3. $51$%
  4. $65$%
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Approximately 51% of incoming solar radiation reaches the Earth's surface, while the rest is reflected by clouds, scattered by the atmosphere, or absorbed by atmospheric gases.