Why doesn't white absorb heat??????

Question

why doesn't it absorb as well as black.. Why does it keep you cooler in summer?

Answer 1

White REFLECTS ALL COLORS OF THE SPECTRUM. Black, ABSORBS all colors of the spectrum. Didnt you learn that in science class like the rest of us?

Answer 2

It really is a matter of defintion. A given material appears as black BECAUSE it absorbs the light hitting it. Another material material appears as white BECAUSE it reflects the light striking it. When the light is absorbed it turns into heat.

It's not arbirtary or a matter of choice. White doesn't absorb heat because we call things that reflect llight in a certain way white and black absorbs heat because we call things that absorb light in a certain way black. The appearance of white and black is due to their reflecting and absorbing.

Answer 3

its all about the colors...
see, colors are waves that our eye lenses capture and reproduces into a picture. Now, if you direct all color waves in to one spot of a molecular size you would get a light source.
Let me try to explain it in reverse. When you turn on the light, all possible colors come from the light bowl. Your blue shoes absorbed all other colors but reflect only the blue waves, thats why it is blue. So does your red shirt and your yellow whatever. But Black does not exist as a true color because it absorbs all the color waves and therefor reflects none. Now all those waves have a certain amount of energy and that is what creates heat as all the color waves are absorbed and none is reflected.

Answer 4

It's mid-summer, and in many parts of the world this means it is hot. You're probably longing for something simple and cool, something to soothe your summertime blues, or at least to make you feel a little less sticky.

What's better for this than white?

Rather than being a color, technically speaking, white is of course the absence of color, which is what makes it so cool. Instead of absorbing light rays, the way everything from yellow to purple does to varying degrees, white reflects light back, so that anything white doesn't absorb the light, and therefore doesn't absorb the heat, either.

This works not only in your clothing (which is why there remains the tradition of wearing white pants, shoes and jackets only from Memorial Day to Labor Day) but it also works in your home.

If you're feeling dopey with heat, and yet you have the energy for a big home project, you may want to give one of your rooms a vacation from color, and try painting the walls bright white.

You can see in this first photo how striking a white-on-white room can be. Here, we see the white furniture placed against a white background, creating a clean canvas to which just a bit of color can be added. The look of this room can be changed just by adding throw pillows and an area rug; the color and style you choose for the accessories will then dictate the look of the whole room.

Imagine how this room would look, for example, with brocade throw pillows in a pastel floral pattern and a pink and white hooked rug. Then, imagine how it would look with square, bright orange pillows and a rug in a modern, geometrical orange and yellow print. You can see how the addition of accessories to an all-white room will give you a completely different look, offering you more control and versatility than if you're committed to a color scheme dictated by the color of the walls and furniture.

An all-white room, of course, requires a great deal of care, so if you have kids, or pets, or even if you just lead a more casual lifestyle, you may want to opt instead for just painting the walls white and maybe having a white floor in a washable material.

In the photo on the left you can see how the green fabric of this chair stands out in the white room, giving a refreshing, springtime feeling to the room. And yet the chair's slipcover is removable and washable, and any pet hair or spills won't jump out as much as they would on a white slipcover. The same is true with this striped chair in the photo on the right.

The mattress-ticking stripe gives an old-fashioned feeling, which, when paired with the white walls and modern design of the chair, creates a look that's both old and new at once.

Tip: Even if you don't want to go through all the trouble of re-painting the living room, you can still bring in white's cooling influence with just a few changes in your accessories. Try filling a tall glass vase with white stones, or swap your maroon or navy lampshades for simple white ones.


However you decide to bring white into your home, it's sure to offer a cooling breeze on a hot summer's day, and that and a tall glass of lemonade will get you to September in no time.

Answer 5

because it reflects more than black which absorbs all colors of visible light. flat and not glossy black will absorb the most heat, and a mirror finish will reflect everything and stay even cooler than white! good luck finding chrome clothing though...

Answer 6

Black is dark because it is the absent of color as all the light is absorbed and turned to heat. White is the opposite as it reflects all the colors and is comprised of all the colors, so little is absorbed and turned to heat.

Answer 7

. The nature of the surface of the material that reflects white reflects all frequencies of the visible spectrum therefore it will not have the ability to gain heat. The nature of the surface of a material the appears to be black cause it to absorb all light including infrared therefore this surface will warm up.

Answer 8

White doesn't absorb as much heat as black because it reflects back all colors of the spectrum. (ROY G BIV) ((Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.) Black absorbs all colors instead of reflecting.

Answer 9

I believe white doesn't absorb heat, because light rays bounce off of it.

Cotton and linen are also good thin materials to keep you cool in the summertime.

Answer 10

It reflects sunlight. Black absorbs almost all sunlight.