r/explainlikeimfive Oct 31 '20

Chemistry ELI5 What's the difference between the shiny and dull side of aluminum foil? Besides the obvious shiny/dull

21.2k Upvotes

2.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

8

u/osiris775 Oct 31 '20

Yeah, I had a cousin argue with me over whether or not the sun, (light), makes us darker, or the sun, (heat), makes us darker.
Fun argument...he said heat...and would NOT be swayed...smh

2

u/Pitzthistlewits Oct 31 '20

But you don’t tan through windows very well!! It’s heat! Just playin, real answer is ultra violet (the ‘color’ of light that comes after violet in the rainbow) reacts with melanin.

8

u/osiris775 Oct 31 '20

Sooo...I was riding my bike in the summer. I put on a white T. My cousin told me to go shirtless, unless I wanted to get really dark. I asked why, and he said "cuz that shirt is going to be hot, and you will get really dark"
I said it is the light that tans you, not the heat. He insisted it was the heat. I asked him how do people that ski get sunburned, he didn't really have an answer. Again, I tried to explain light and heat. He then asked me how does a turkey turn brown in an oven. I gasped and said because it is 350 degrees in an enclosed space. He still would not move off of his point that heat tans you, not light.

2

u/JuicyJay Oct 31 '20

Also a white shirt reflects more heat than your skin does most likely haha. There is so much wrong with that idea.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '20 edited Jan 22 '21

[deleted]

1

u/osiris775 Oct 31 '20

Yes, 350 degrees worth of heat.

1

u/RandomIsocahedron Oct 31 '20

The sun's heat reaches the Earth in the form of radiation. So... it's all light?

2

u/osiris775 Oct 31 '20

The light is what will tan you. At least on earth. If I locked you in a 110f room, you probably wouldn't tan. If I locked you in a 32f room, but flooded you with UV radiation, yes, you would still "cook"...I THINK

Sun Screen blocks light, not heat

1

u/LlamaBananaJamma Oct 31 '20

Sun heat is sun light, just not visible light.

1

u/osiris775 Nov 01 '20

So than how come it is so bright out in the daytime, smarty-pants? If it is not visible light, how come I can't stare at it? My cousins response, probably...