The correct answer is: The sun emits a maximum amount of radiation at wavelengths near 0.5 micrometers, while the earth emits maximum radiation near wavelengths of 10 micrometers.
The sun emits a maximum amount of radiation in the visible spectrum, which has wavelengths between 380 and 700 nanometers. This is why we see the sun as white. However, the sun also emits radiation at other wavelengths, including ultraviolet and infrared radiation. Ultraviolet radiation has wavelengths shorter than visible light, while infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than visible light.
The earth’s atmosphere absorbs most of the ultraviolet radiation from the sun, but it allows most of the visible and infrared radiation to pass through. The earth’s surface absorbs the visible and infrared radiation, and re-emits it as infrared radiation. This is why we feel warm on a sunny day.
The earth’s atmosphere is transparent to infrared radiation, but it is opaque to visible light. This is why we can see the sun, but we cannot see the earth’s atmosphere.
The earth’s surface emits maximum radiation at wavelengths near 10 micrometers. This is because the earth’s surface is at a temperature of about 300 Kelvin, and the peak emission wavelength for a blackbody at this temperature is about 10 micrometers.
The sun’s surface is at a temperature of about 5800 Kelvin, and the peak emission wavelength for a blackbody at this temperature is about 0.5 micrometers.
Therefore, the sun emits a maximum amount of radiation at wavelengths near 0.5 micrometers, while the earth emits maximum radiation near wavelengths of 10 micrometers.