light:How does the Sun's energy reach us?

How does the Sun's energy reach us?
Did you know that only a small portion of the Sun's energy- just one thousandth of one millionth part- actually reaches the Earth as light and heat?

 The Sun acts like a massive nuclear plant radiating energy into space, but most of this energy is either reflected back by the atmosphere into space or absorbed by the atmosphere, the land and oceans. Energy from the Sun is called solar energy.

 Solar energy travels from the Sun to the Earth in rays. Some are light rays that we can see, while some are rays we can't see, like x-rays. The Sun's rays are able to reach the Earth by travelling through space, since light is able to travel through space as well as through the air. The energy absorbed by the Earth becomes thermal energy, which warms the Earth, and the air around it.

 A small portion of the energy that reaches us is trapped by green plants to make food. Plants act as energy trans-formers, capturing the light that falls on them first into chemical energy and then into the energy that makes them grow, by a process known as photosynthesis.

 Plants are then eaten by animals and by us, either directly or indirectly through the animals that we eat. Even though such a minute part of the Sun's energy reaches us, it is still far more than we use.