Infrared Radiation Lab Results
In this report, the absorption of heat in white, black and silver will be explored. Infrared radiation is invisible radiant energy, it lies between the visible light and the microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Heat is the main source of infrared energy, heat is produced by the movement of atoms and molecules. This experiment was conducted to investigate how black, white, and silver cans would absorb heat.
The electromagnetic spectrum is made up of gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, microwaves and radio waves. What separates these is the frequency and wavelength of each one. A high frequency, which is high energy, results in a short wavelengthand vice versa. This makes the frequency and wavelength inversely proportional. Infrared radiation has longer electromagnetic wavelengths than that of …show more content…
visible light and a lower frequency than visible light.
Electromagnetic radiation carries heat and thermal energy in it. Radiation is how energy travels. Electromagnetic radiation is able to travel through free space or through a medium. When carried through a medium, the energy is moved through neighbouring molecules, this is the process of conduction. The more motion molecules have, the more they heat up. This is how heat travels.
When light waves are absorbed by an object, it is converted into infrared energy. This is what causes black objects to become heated when exposed to visible light. Whereas white reflects light waves therefore not becoming very hot as only a small amount of thermal energy is absorbed. Matte/ dull silver objects are in between black and white, therefore they absorb heat more than white objects but less than black. Although, if a highly reflective silver object was placed in light, it would almost completely reflect the energy away from it.
It was hypothesized that black would absorb the most heat and white would absorb the least. This is because the darker the colour, the more heat is able to be absorbed. Light colours reflect heat.
It was hypothesized that the black can would absorb the most heat and the white can would absorb the least. This has been proven in the first experiment with the light source as the black can had the highest increase in temperature, followed by the silver and then the white. This hypothesis was disproven in the second experiment with the water as the silver can absorbed the least amount of heat and the white and black cans absorbed the heat energy at the same rate. They had a total change of -13 as the silver can had a total change of -11.
The results of the first experiment show that the black can absorbed the most heat as it is a dark colour and white absorbed the least amount of heat as it is a bright colour and does not absorb heat very well. It was found that all cans stopped increasing in temperature once they reached a certain temperature, they all did this at different times. This shows that each can reached a certain temperature where it could not absorb any more heat, only maintain the temperature it had reached. The white can reached its maximum temperature after only increasing 1 degrees Celsius, this was at 6 minutes. The silver can raised 5 degrees and by 14 minutes, it had stopped absorbing heat. Lastly, the black can reached its maximum heat by 8 minutes after increasing by 8 degrees.
The results of the second experiment show that all cans dropped temperatures at similar rates, however the silver can decreased temperature slower than the other cans.
All cans were left untouched on the inside therefore they all had reflective silver on the inside of them. This may have been the reason for why the results turned out how they did. The black can decreased temperature quickly, it is expected that the black colour on the outside would have absorbed the heat that made it through the silver can and radiated it into the mediums around it. The white can decreased temperature the same amount as the black can. This may have been because there was no light so the can may have absorbed the heat and not reflected it as greatly as it did with a light source. The silver can held the heat as it may have reflected the heat that travelled through the can and did not absorb it, therefore the heat could not be transferred into the atmosphere. As the cans were painted, it is possible the paint could have been applied in different thicknesses and different brands could have been used. These factors could have also contributed to the unexpected
results.
This experiment was designed very well however the way in which it was conducted may have affected the results that were recorded. The water was poured into the cans at different temperatures which may have given inaccurate results. To achieve accurate and reliable results, the repeatability of this experiment would need to be tested by repeating it multiple times. If this experiment was extended, an idea would be to investigate how heat is absorbed in all colours in the visible light range.
The electromagnetic spectrum is made up of gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, microwaves and radio waves. What separates these is the frequency and wavelength of each one. A high frequency, which is high energy, results in a short wavelengthand vice versa. This makes the frequency and wavelength inversely proportional. Infrared radiation has longer electromagnetic wavelengths than that of …show more content…
visible light and a lower frequency than visible light.
Electromagnetic radiation carries heat and thermal energy in it. Radiation is how energy travels. Electromagnetic radiation is able to travel through free space or through a medium. When carried through a medium, the energy is moved through neighbouring molecules, this is the process of conduction. The more motion molecules have, the more they heat up. This is how heat travels.
When light waves are absorbed by an object, it is converted into infrared energy. This is what causes black objects to become heated when exposed to visible light. Whereas white reflects light waves therefore not becoming very hot as only a small amount of thermal energy is absorbed. Matte/ dull silver objects are in between black and white, therefore they absorb heat more than white objects but less than black. Although, if a highly reflective silver object was placed in light, it would almost completely reflect the energy away from it.
It was hypothesized that black would absorb the most heat and white would absorb the least. This is because the darker the colour, the more heat is able to be absorbed. Light colours reflect heat.
It was hypothesized that the black can would absorb the most heat and the white can would absorb the least. This has been proven in the first experiment with the light source as the black can had the highest increase in temperature, followed by the silver and then the white. This hypothesis was disproven in the second experiment with the water as the silver can absorbed the least amount of heat and the white and black cans absorbed the heat energy at the same rate. They had a total change of -13 as the silver can had a total change of -11.
The results of the first experiment show that the black can absorbed the most heat as it is a dark colour and white absorbed the least amount of heat as it is a bright colour and does not absorb heat very well. It was found that all cans stopped increasing in temperature once they reached a certain temperature, they all did this at different times. This shows that each can reached a certain temperature where it could not absorb any more heat, only maintain the temperature it had reached. The white can reached its maximum temperature after only increasing 1 degrees Celsius, this was at 6 minutes. The silver can raised 5 degrees and by 14 minutes, it had stopped absorbing heat. Lastly, the black can reached its maximum heat by 8 minutes after increasing by 8 degrees.
The results of the second experiment show that all cans dropped temperatures at similar rates, however the silver can decreased temperature slower than the other cans.
All cans were left untouched on the inside therefore they all had reflective silver on the inside of them. This may have been the reason for why the results turned out how they did. The black can decreased temperature quickly, it is expected that the black colour on the outside would have absorbed the heat that made it through the silver can and radiated it into the mediums around it. The white can decreased temperature the same amount as the black can. This may have been because there was no light so the can may have absorbed the heat and not reflected it as greatly as it did with a light source. The silver can held the heat as it may have reflected the heat that travelled through the can and did not absorb it, therefore the heat could not be transferred into the atmosphere. As the cans were painted, it is possible the paint could have been applied in different thicknesses and different brands could have been used. These factors could have also contributed to the unexpected
results.
This experiment was designed very well however the way in which it was conducted may have affected the results that were recorded. The water was poured into the cans at different temperatures which may have given inaccurate results. To achieve accurate and reliable results, the repeatability of this experiment would need to be tested by repeating it multiple times. If this experiment was extended, an idea would be to investigate how heat is absorbed in all colours in the visible light range.