Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 17 views

    Radiation Physics

    Uploaded by

    MATHIX
    The document compares the radiant heat outputs of two vintage Cadillacs, one white and one black, when their bodies are at 38°C. It calculates that the black Cadillac puts out 434 W/m^2 of radiation while the white Cadillac puts out 160 W/m^2. It explains that while the black car radiates more, on a sunny day it will actually be hotter due to conduction of heat to the surrounding air, which is independent of color.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Radiation Physics

    Uploaded by

    MATHIX
    17 views8 pages
    The document compares the radiant heat outputs of two vintage Cadillacs, one white and one black, when their bodies are at 38°C. It calculates that the black Cadillac puts out 434 W/m^2 of radiation while the white Cadillac puts out 160 W/m^2. It explains that while the black car radiates more, on a sunny day it will actually be hotter due to conduction of heat to the surrounding air, which is independent of color.

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The document compares the radiant heat outputs of two vintage Cadillacs, one white and one black, when their bodies are at 38°C. It calculates that the black Cadillac puts out 434 W/m^2 of radiation while the white Cadillac puts out 160 W/m^2. It explains that while the black car radiates more, on a sunny day it will actually be hotter due to conduction of heat to the surrounding air, which is independent of color.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    17 views8 pages

    Radiation Physics

    Uploaded by

    MATHIX
    The document compares the radiant heat outputs of two vintage Cadillacs, one white and one black, when their bodies are at 38°C. It calculates that the black Cadillac puts out 434 W/m^2 of radiation while the white Cadillac puts out 160 W/m^2. It explains that while the black car radiates more, on a sunny day it will actually be hotter due to conduction of heat to the surrounding air, which is independent of color.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 8

    Consider

    two vintage Cadillacs on a warm day. The bodies of both cars are 38 °C.
    What are the relative radiant outputs from the two cars?

    !" = $% &' (

    White 1959 Cadillac

    ai = 0.30

    !" = $% &' (

    = (0.30)(5.7 x 10-8 J m-1 s-1 K-4)(311 K)4

    = 160 W m-2


    Black 1959 Cadillac

    ai = 0.80

    !" = $% &' (

    = (0.80)(5.7 x 10-8 J m-1 s-1 K-4)(311 K)4

    = 434 W m-2

    The black Caddy puts out a lot more heat radiation than does the white Caddy. It’s
    actually cooling off faster (at least its radiational cooling).

    Yet we know from experience that, with real cars, the black Caddy will actually be hotter
    on a sunny day. The answer is the effect of conduction to the air. If we launched both
    Cadillacs into orbit in the vacuum of space, the white Caddy would radiate less but it
    would also absorb less, in the same proportion (ai = )i = 0.30). The black Caddy
    likewise would absorb more but also emit more (ai = )i = 0.80), so in a vacuum (no
    conduction to air), both Cadillacs are exactly the same temperature.

    On earth, we have to add in conduction to air, which is independent of car color. In that
    case the white Cadillac has proportional more cooling due to conduction and it stays
    somewhat cooler. We’ll look at this in more detail soon when we study heat budgets.

    You might also like