Why does tails of a comet forms and becomes larger as it goes closer to the sun??

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Solution

Not every comet is the same, but it wouldn't be terrible to say that a comet is a dirty-icy object in the solar system. When they come near the sun, they melt (I'm not sure "melt" is the most appropriate term here) and produce gas and dust. The gas and dust form both a coma and a tail (or two tails). If the comet is large enough and close enough to Earth, you can see the comet from the sunlight that reflects off this gas and dust.

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Similar questions

Why do tails of comets face backwards to the sun?

Answer the following :

(a) The casing of a rocket in flight burns up due to friction. At whose expense is the heat energy required for burning obtained. The rocket or the atmosphere?

(b) Comets move around the sun in highly elliptical orbits. The gravitational force on the comet due to the sun is not normal to the comets velocity in general. Yet the work done by the gravitational force over every complete orbit of the comet is zero. Why?

(c) An artificial satellite orbiting the earth in very thin atmosphere loses its energy gradually due to dissipation against atmospheric resistance, however small. Why then does its speed increase progressively as it comes closer and closer to the earth?

(d) In Figure (i) the man walks

2

m

carrying a mass of

15

k g

on his hands. In Figure (ii), he walks the same distance pulling the rope behind him. The rope goes over a pulley, and a mass of

15

k g

hangs at its other end. In which case is the work done greater?

Answer the following:

(a) The casing of a rocket in flight burns up due to friction. At whose expense is the heat energy required for burning obtained? The rocket or the atmosphere?

(b) Comets move around the sun in highly elliptical orbits. The gravitational force on the comet due to the sun is not normal to the comet’s velocity in general. Yet the work done by the gravitational force over every complete orbit of the comet is zero. Why?

(d) In Fig. 6.13(i) the man walks 2 m carrying a mass of 15 kg on his hands. In Fig. 6.13(ii), he walks the same distance pulling the rope behind him. The rope goes over a pulley, and a mass of 15 kg hangs at its other end. In which case is the work done greater?

Fig. 6.13

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