If atmospheric refraction did not occur, how would the apparent time of sunrise and sunset be changed?
a. both would be later
b. both would be earlier
c. sunrise would be later, and sunset would be earlier
d. sunrise would be earlier, and sunset would be later
C
drwls told me C was not correct, but i don't see any other correct answer?
I'm sorry for the confusion. Actually, option c is the correct answer. Here's why:
Atmospheric refraction is the bending of light as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere. This bending causes the Sun to appear slightly higher in the sky than it actually is, especially near the horizon. As a result, both sunrise and sunset are delayed, or appear later, due to this atmospheric refraction effect.
So, if atmospheric refraction did not occur, the apparent time of sunrise and sunset would be changed in the following way:
- Sunrise would be later: Without atmospheric refraction, the Sun would appear exactly at the horizon when it crosses the geometric horizon. This means it would take longer for the Sun to rise above the horizon. Therefore, the apparent time of sunrise would be later without atmospheric refraction.
- Sunset would be earlier: Similarly, without atmospheric refraction, the Sun would appear to sink below the geometric horizon exactly when it crosses it. This would make the Sun disappear from view earlier, leading to an earlier apparent time of sunset.
Hence, option c, stating that sunrise would be later and sunset would be earlier, is the correct answer.