How does distance from the equator affect daylight hours?
It is only the equator which experiences 12 hrs day and 12 hrs night. All other latitudes experience uneven daylight and night lengths.Distance from equator combined with tilt of Earth's axis of rotation results in variations in day and night length.Re: How does latitude affect the number of hours of sunlight that a place gets?This is a very big concept to be explained here as it will require a lot of diagrams and concepts to be understood first. I suggest you to refer some school textbooks or Wikipedia for it. I have attached one link that may help.
Are the days and nights equal at the equator all year round?
No days and nights are not of equal length all around the Equator due to the angle of the earth in relation to the sun. The Equator is one of the Latitudes or imaginary circles drawn around the Polar Axis which, together with the lines of Longitude, form a grid on which the land and seas are mapped in a fixed geographical and astronomical position. This grid or chart is used to mark the position of the sun at midday to measure the length of a day. Because the earth 's polar axis is at an angle to the earth's orbital trajectory the sun's light reaches the Polar regions for half a year at a time so we know that the earth tilts toward the sun for six months and away from the sun for six months. Therefore every region on earth is exposed to varying degrees of sunlight throughout the orbit. Every year, in the regions that get sunlight daily, there are two days, called the Equinoxes, when the hours of light and dark are equal. The Equinoxes move around the Latitudes at a rate of 0.98 degrees of Longitude per day, never occurring on the same day all around the Equator. Regions around the equator do not tilt beyond the light of day in the same way as the Polar Regions do, so the effect of the Earth's tilt is not so apparent.
How do daylight hours change? What causes this?
The earth is tilted at an angle of about 23.5° degrees with respect to its orbital plane.This means that, as the earth goes around the sun in the course of one year, certain areas become more exposed to sunlight and some become less exposed. On the June Solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, so all locations north of the Equator will have days longer than 12 hours. Conversely, all locations south of the Equator will have days shorter than 12 hours. The opposite is true for the December solstice.The tilt of the earth also causes the sun’s angle of elevation (how high the sun is in the sky) to change throughout the year, for a particular location. This is what causes the seasons. In winter the sun is lower in the sky, so the sun’s rays are less intense and so heat the ground less. In summer, the sun is higher in the sky, so the sun’s rays are more intense and cause more heating in the ground. The seasons are not caused by the distance from the earth to the sun.I hope this helped.(image from: Science )
Does each location on Earth get the same amount of daylight annually?
No.Although, the amount of hours of light received by each location is more or less the same on a yearly average (short days in winters and long days in summers equals out).But the amount of daylight (measured in lux or energy) varies greatly as you get closer to equator. Because the sunlight at equator hits in a more direct angle, and therefor each “ray” of sunlight is concentrated on a smaller plot, so to say.This is what causes it to be warmer, the closer to equator you get. And a very clear evidence is that the tropical zones have lush rainforests with 60 meter tall trees, while the nordic tundra has only shrubs and mosses….the two areas don't at all receive the same amount of daylight.Cloud cover and local topography, distance to the sun, and seasons will also matter, but by far the most important factor is the fact that the earth is shaped like a ball.
How the earth tilt affect the length of the day and night, explain?
Try doing some drawings of the Earth at various positions around the sun to illustrate this idea for yourself. You'll start to notice a pattern, say for a given point on the northern hemisphere: During the winter, we're tilted away from the sun, so the sun is at a lower declination and takes less time to go across the sky, given that the Earths rotation is constant. In the summer, we're tilted towards the sun, so the sun is at a much higher declination (nearly overhead at noon depending on your location). Since the Earth's rotation is constant (well, almost, but not slowing at any rate we need consider), the sun takes longer to get across this higher "arc". And of course, whenever the sun is down, it's night time, so the length of night follows from our discussion. edit: in case it wasn't clear or somehow made ambiguous, our tilt is also *fairly* constant. Though the tilt does change, which is called precession of the axis, it's very slow. A complete tilt rotation takes 27,000 years.
Why does the length of the days change as the seasons change?
as the earth rotates, the amount of sunlight that hits the earth changes. because of this, the nights and days change their length of time. the earth tilts a little during the summer, and so in the northern hemisphere it is more oriented towards the sun, and the southern is enshrouded in night. the opposite happens in the winter. a common misconception is that during the summer the earth is closer to the sun-that's a false idea (the orbit around the sun is ALMOST circular)
What is the relationship between the latitude and the number of daylight hours on Earth?
All places on the earth over the course of a year experiance the same number if hours of daylight. From the equator to the poles. Its identicle. 365.25× 12 hrs of daylight and darkness. The latitude will determine how you get these hours of daylight and darkness. The higher the latitude the more radical the periods of daylight and darkness become. Until you arrive at the pole. 90 deg North or South. Where there is 6 months of daylight and 6 months of darkness. As you proceed towards the equator from the pole the periods of totality, day or night become less until one arrives at the arctic or antarctic circle. At this lat 65.8 N or S. There is 1 day of total daylight and 1 day of total darkness ( on the Solstice).as we cont. On our way to the equator the hours of daylight and darkness become more even on a daily basis. As we reach the tropic of Cancer or Capricorn we pass into the tropics and the length of the days and nights do not vary very much. Now we are at the equator where year round the period of daylight and darkness are equal 12 hrs each the whole year through.
Why are seasons in the Northern Hemisphere opposite to those in the Southern Hemisphere?
Because we are in the Southern Hemisphere. The Earth is a strange ball of rock, and its axis is strange. Think of the Earth as a spinning top.It doesn't stay straight, as it wobbles on its point. The earth moves like that, with the earth moving like a hand wave. See the light on the picture? Imagine that is the suns light. Also, see the shadow on the right of the top? The light can't reach that area. Also, the top part has a bit of shadow. The blobby sides move up and down, moving the light down and up.Now see this image? This is the axis of rotation. Earth isn't straight, but 23.5 degrees sloped. From Brazil down, there is the Southern Hemisphere. The US and the North gets more light, because the sun is shining on them. The sun doesn't move. In the Northern Hemisphere, they get Summer, while in the Southern Hemisphere, we get Winter.This is another image. The Vernal equinox is Spring, btw. In Autumn, the sun shines on the Americas. Earth still spins, but most of the North Pole doesn't receive as many light. The Spring Equinox is the opposite, with the North Pole receiving slightly more light, but not a lot.Right now it is 9th November 2017. It is Spring in my country, Australia and the US and Europe are receiving beautiful autumn leaves. Autumn also means Fall. We have Summer Christmases, Autumn Easters, Spring Halloweens. We also have a 6 week holiday from December to Jan-Feb.I guess, blame Mother Nature