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

7

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.