Science

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1. 
   pmiranda2857 Teacher
   High School - 11th Grade

   Venus has an atmosphere that is 96% carbon dioxide.  The heat is trapped in the atmosphere, it can't escape to allow for the plant to cool naturally.  As the Sun heats up the surface, that heat is absorbed by the gases and radiated back to the surface.

   "Venus has no ocean. Venus is covered by thick, rapidly spinning clouds that trap surface heat, creating a scorched greenhouse-like world with temperatures hot enough to melt lead and pressure so intense that standing on Venus would feel like the pressure felt 900 meters deep in Earth's oceans."

   "These clouds reflect sunlight in addition to trapping heat. Because Venus reflects so much sunlight, it is usually the brightest planet in the night sky."  

   "Venus provides a perfect example of the greenhouse effect. Heat from the Sun penetrates the planet's atmosphere and reaches the surface. The heat is then prevented from escaping back into space by atmospheric carbon dioxide (similar to heat in a greenhouse)."

   "The result is that Venus has a surface temperature of 900°F (482°C), even hotter than that of Mercury, the closet planet to the Sun."

   Sources:

   http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Venus

   http://www.enotes.com/uxl-science-encyclopedia/venus

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   Posted by pmiranda2857 on Sunday August 31, 2008 at 5:48 AM
   
   

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