Re: Private Universe and the Seasons

[Mark Sylvester <msylvest@XNET.IT>]

> <snip>
> "I think that this topic. . .[the Seasons]. . . belongs, first of
> all, to the optics curriculum of high school, where it is to be
> addressed using the concepts of light flux and illumination. . . . .
> <snip>

I gained an excellent grasp of the seasons from geography classes in middle
school in S. Africa a long time ago. The tides otoh were not well
explained, but that's a different thread!

One misconception that I've come across, not mentioned in the post I'm
replying to, is that the hemisphere tilted away from the sun is in winter
because it's further from the sun, and likewise the summer side is in
summer because being tilted towards the sun it's closer to it.

I take it that "light flux" (above) means the watts per square metre, while
"illumination" refers to the fact that a given square metre is illuminated
for more hours per day in summer. I've seen teachers emphasising the first
but neglecting the second. It would be interesting to determine the
relative contributions of the two factors.

Mark


Mark Sylvester
UWCAd
Duino Trieste Italy