Light absorbtion and change in temperature of liquids

[Rodwen]

Hi hi,

Sorry if this is awful and boring. Basically what I want to work out is a way to differentiate two different liquids by touch (specifically, temperature) after shining a light on them. A thermometer cannot be used. The variables open here are the compositions of the liquid (I'm going with colour differences - perhaps a black and a white) and the light used. I also need to consider what effect the containers would have on this experiment.

Any ideas, riffing off my black/white idea here, or other thoughts?

 

[Bystander]

A thermometer cannot be used.

by touch (specifically, temperature)

Which is it?

 

[Rodwen]

Which is it?

It's both! What I mean is that the temperature difference must be large enough to be perceived by the human hand. It cannot be a minute difference measurable only by a thermometer. :)

 

[Drakkith]

I'm confused about what you're wanting to do. Are you wanting to shine light one two liquid samples for the same period of time and then figure out which one is which just based on the temperature?

 

[Rodwen]

I'm confused about what you're wanting to do. Are you wanting to shine light one two liquid samples for the same period of time and then figure out which one is which just based on the temperature?

In a nutshell, yes. The question is what the composition of the liquids would need to be and what the light would need to be in order to achieve this.