Lab Report: Do Colors Keep Us Warm?

Do colors keep you warm?

Would color affect how warm a jacket is? Many people choose a jacket for aesthetic reasons, or just because they like the color that it’s made in, but the color of the material itself may affect how warm it actually is. For example, a black jacket could stay warmer than a white one, because black reflects less light than white or light colors. If the temperatures of the jackets were measured in a controlled environment, then the black jacket would most likely be warmer because “Black is the ultimate heat absorber. It absorbs all light on the visual spectrum, creating a void of light. As a result of absorbing all light wavelengths, black is the hottest possible color” (Kittmer, Lucas. “What Colors Absorb More Heat?”
First, the lab would be opened at http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/science/virtual_labs/E16/E16.html. All you need to complete this experiment is a computer and a lab sheet. After that, two of the five colors would be put on the hooks. Then, the simulation would be started, and the changes in temperature due to the light on above the jackets would be observed. Afterwards, the data would be evaluated and conclusions would be drawn. The independent variable was what was changed in the experiment; in this case, it was the color of the jackets. The dependent was the temperature of the jackets, since that is what was measured. Some controls in this experiment would be the time that the jackets are under the light, the intensity of the light, and the temperature of the room. If any of these things were to change, then the data would no longer be
The results prove that yes, the color does play a part in temperature. Darker colors absorb more light, which gets converted into heat. The reasoning behind all of this is that because black is an absence of light, it makes sense that it would absorb more light. Lighter colors reflect light, which lessens the amount of energy that is converted into heat. Other studies support this evidence, and have similar data. Meera Chandrasekhar, a professor at the University of Missouri, said the following. “When the energy is taken up by the object, it's called absorption, and when the energy is bounced back by the object, it's called reflection. Objects are selective about which colors they will absorb or reflect. A black object is black because it's absorbing all the light; it's not reflecting any color” (Fitch, Tabitha. “Why Do Black Materials Absorb Light and White Materials Reflect It?” 8 Aug. 2013). This supports the data that I and other people who have experimented on this have gathered. There were other possible explanations for this data at first. For example, the material could have been producing the heat. However, since each jacket was made out of the same material, it would not have made a