Light, Radiation & Temperature

• visible light

  • made up of a range of colours
  • colour and transparency depend on absorbed wavelengths
  • colour filters only let through particular wavelengths
• every object absorbs and emits infrared radiation
• PRACTICAL - EMISSION

  1. place an empty leslie cube on a heat proof mat
  2. boil water and fill leslie cube
  3. wate for cube to warm up then place thermometer
  4. hold IR detector a set distance away form one of the cubes faces and record amount of IR radiation it detects
  5. repeat measurement for each face
  6. repeat experiment and calculate a mean
• matt black surfaces are the best for emitting and absorbing IR radiation
• shiny silver surfaces are the best reflectors of IR radiation