Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Solar Energy and Color 
Name: Unknown
Status: N/A
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: Around 1993
Question:
Why is it that dark colors absorb more solar energy than light colors? That means that dark areas of the earth are warmer in sunny weather. Is this because less light is reflected? Would dark blue be a cooler color than dark purple or red?


Replies:
Basically, darker colors are dark because they absorb more of the light that hits them. In general, light striking a non-shiny object is either scattered diffusely, transmitted through the material, or absorbed. When we look at the object we are seeing the diffusely scattered light, and (assuming the object is opaque enough so that not much gets transmitted) the colors we see are all those in the original light source that did not get absorbed. A dark object absorbs most of the light that hits it, so almost no light is scattered back to give it color.

A. Smith


Click here to return to the Physics Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory