I have a black car and a white car. It’s a sunny, 95-degree day.
The white car’s paint is warm to the touch while obviously the black car’s paint is extremely hot to the touch. I get that the black paint is absorbing most of the the sun’s light energy, which gets converted to heat. But the white paint is clearly being warmed by the sun to some degree as well. Is this because the white paint is not an absolutely pure white that reflects back 100% of the sun’s light energy, i.e., it still absorbs some small amount? Or is the warmth I’m feeling on the white car’s paint basically just the air temperature?
In: Physics
First, the metal car will be at ambient temperature, which is going to feel hot to the touch. Being metal, it will feel hotter than something like plastic at the same temperature, since that temperature is above your skin temperature.
That said, neither black nor white paint is perfect. In fact they’re not even particularly close to perfect.
Latest Answers