Final answer:
The atmosphere allows most visible light, some UV, and IR spectrums, along with certain radio waves, to pass through to Earth. Visible light heats objects and changes into infrared radiation. The sky's blue color is due to the scattering of shorter wavelengths, more specifically blue light.
Step-by-step explanation:
The parts of the spectrum that actually pass through the atmosphere to the Earth include most of the visible light spectrum, some of the ultraviolet (UV) light spectrum, and some of the infrared (IR) spectrum. Additionally, certain radio frequencies pass through the ionosphere. However, Earth's atmosphere absorbs high-frequency waves including gamma rays, X-rays, and parts of the UV spectrum, which must be observed from space.
When visible light heats up objects on Earth, the radiation it changes into is primarily infrared radiation, which we often refer to as heat. This energy transfer is a result of the object absorbing light and re-emitting energy at a longer wavelength.
The color of the sky at midday is caused by the scattering of light, with blue light being scattered the most due to its shorter wavelength, providing the sky with its characteristic blue color. When standing in front of a fire, we perceive both heat and light, which are different forms of electromagnetic radiation; heat is typically in the infrared spectrum, while visible light is at higher frequencies within the electromagnetic spectrum.