Room temp is 25 degrees, while body temp is 37 deg. Black is good emitter of heat. y do we wear white shirt?

Question

the room temperature is 25 degree celcius, while our body temperature is 37 degree celcius. So, we are hotter than the surroundings.

We have also known that black is a good emitter of heat, as compared to white.

So, when we wear a black shirt, we should be emitting heat faster to the surroundings, as compared to a white shirt, thus making us cool faster. However, it is wearing white shirts which will make us cooler.

What is the flaw in my concept? I've tried to find the answers, but to no avail.

Thanks.

Answer 1

sorry to burst the bubble of answerers who don't really know about physics, but black bodied radiation is the culprit of this dilemma you're having. yes, white reflects LIGHT better than black objects, HOWEVER, due to black bodied radiation, objects which are perfectly black MUST emit as much heat as they absorb through radiation. In other words, what energy is absorbed must be entirely released. Thus in warm countries they wear white robes, but in the very hottest parts of the world the nomadic types who live there use black robes. by the same right, a white car and a black car sitting in the sun (with the window's covered) will feel the same on the interior. I suggest you don't touch the paint of the black car, however, because it will be re-emitting back into the environment all the energy it has absorbed so the paint will feel ALOT hotter.

Answer 2

I think you will find black absorbs heat whereas white reflects it. In the hotter countries, the Middle East for example, white is very often worn covering the body in order to rflect the heat from the body. I often wonder how women in some of those countries dress constantly in black, but I think that may have something to do with the Muslim faith. If you have a black car and a white one, and they are left in the sun, the white one will be marginally cooler than the black.

Answer 3

Actually in this case the difference between white and black is the way they reflect ligth. White reflects more ligth than black. So if you are exposed to the sun ligth then the white shirt will keep you cooler than the black one. In a closed room where the exposure to sun ligth (or any other infrared ligth) is minimal the difference is not going to be noticed. The human bodies own heat does not have big impact in this experiment.

Answer 4

As Johann said white will reflect much more heat than black. The thing you are forgetting in this argument is that things that are good emitters of heat, are also good absorbers of heat.

Answer 5

AHHH stop talking in Celcius...can you also add the Farenheit conversions too! i mean a lot of people in America read this and we're a stubborn country and refuse to switch to the metic system!