How does the Sun heat Earth but the space in between Earth and the Sun is cold?

Question

If the Sun is able to keep Earth warm while being millions of miles away, shouldn’t it get warmer and warmer the closer you get to it (like when you go to space)? Like how it would get warmer if you were to approach a burning house for example?

In: 19

Answer 1

So there are two different methods of heat transfer at play here:
-Electromagnetic radiation (light)
-Conduction

Conduction is when something hot comes into contact with something cold – like the air around a burning house getting heated up by the fire.

Space is empty, so there is no conduction. The Sun heats the earth by emitting electromagnetic radiation (light), which can travel through the vacuum of space until it hits the earth and warms it up.