– How does concrete/asphalt heat up to insane temperatures that are way above the actual air temperature?

Question

The question pretty much sums it up. How TF is the asphalt 20-40° hotter than the air when it’s super hot?

In: 531

Answer 1

My best eli5 answer:
The sun adds energy to the concrete. The concrete loses energy to its surroundings. If the concrete loses less energy than it gets from the sun, it heats up.

It also heats more than other surrounding objects because the biggest factor of how much energy something gets from the sun is how dark it is. Black absorbs the most energy and tarmac is dark almost black.