Submitted by full_hammer t3_10eku2h in askscience
TheJasonKientz t1_j4xlz53 wrote
Reply to comment by Competitive_Way_5485 in What happens to the energy of sound in space? by full_hammer
The other answers about communicating are correct, we use radio wave which are light and which do not require a medium to propagate.
We freeze in space because there are no molecules in the air (there’s no air) bumping into our skin. On earth, air molecules are constantly bumping into you and transferring the energy they have picked up from the suns rays or from other air molecules. When this happens your badly stays warm.
But if you go to the top of a mountain, even in a sunny day it’s really really cold because the air is very thin. Actually you might be warm on the top of the mountain if you were in the sun because the suns rays would heat you up but if you were in the shade you’d get real cold. Even the back side of you body, the part not facing the sun would get real cold.
This is what happens in space as well. Things that are in direct sunlight are very hot and things that are in the shade are extremely cold. Because the only natural heat source when there is no air are the rays from the sun.
The James Webb Space telescope is over 200 degrees Fahrenheit on the sun lit side and is less that -350 degrees Fahrenheit on the dark side. There is almost a 600 degree difference. All because there is no air.
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