- #1
ejensen6
- 19
- 0
It is often claimed that in a hot climate, it is better to paint one's house white because it will reflect more radiation, while black paint will absorb more radiation. It seems clear that other things equal, this is correct. But I have two questions regarding this.
1) Which is more important in heating a house through radiation: the visible properties (tendency to reflect or absorb visible light from the hot sun) or IR properties (tendency to reflect or absorb infrared from surrounding objects at 300 K or so) of the surface?
2) Is there a strong connection between an object's visible properties and its IR properties? In other words, could something mostly reflect visible while absorbing IR or the reverse? Can we reasonably infer an object's IR properties by looking at it?
1) Which is more important in heating a house through radiation: the visible properties (tendency to reflect or absorb visible light from the hot sun) or IR properties (tendency to reflect or absorb infrared from surrounding objects at 300 K or so) of the surface?
2) Is there a strong connection between an object's visible properties and its IR properties? In other words, could something mostly reflect visible while absorbing IR or the reverse? Can we reasonably infer an object's IR properties by looking at it?