Wearing black on a hot day

[snopes]

Comment: How about the old wives' tale about getting hotter when wearing
black on a hot day (as opposed to wearing a lighter color)?

[Towknie]

With no scientific proof behind it, I have noticed that wearing a black t-shirt on a hot sunny day does seems to make me hotter than when I'm wearing a white t-shirt.

[Eddylizard]

IIRC black absorbs more energy than other colours, but at the same time it radiates more energy than other colours.

Which effect outweighs which, I have no idea.

[NayShel]

Huh, I never thought of that as an old wives tale. I've had the same experience as Towknie where it just seems like I'm hotter when I'm wearing darker colors. Plus the advice to wear lighter colors is always given as part of hot/humid day safety tips.

[Ellestar]

I don't think it's an old wives' tale.

Don't our seeing colors have to do how much light is absorbed by certain colors. For example, we see something as black because it absorbs the whole spectrum of colors and reflects nothing and white is white because it reflects all colors and absorbs none? I seem to remember that from my elementary science classes.

As a soccer player in Texas, I can definitely testify that darker numbers absorbed much more light/heat. On some days when wearing a white uniform with black numbers on the back, I could feel the shape of the number on by back because of the heat it absorbed.

[RealityChuck]

Black absorbs heat faster than lighter colors. It absorbs all colors of light, so it takes in all the energy and reflects little of it.

It radiates the heat, true -- but that means it's radiating it toward your body at the same time the sun is also sending heat down.

[DoubleNaughtSaleen]

Having worn a dark navy blue uniform in triple digit weather, let me say that HOT is HOT no matter what you're wearing!

[Dear Babby]

I avoid dark colored cars too for that reason.

[Troberg]

There's nothing wrong with wearing dark clothes when it's warm!

http://rpglab.net/troberg/gallery/vi...gid=47&phid=14

Yeah, I might be hot, but I'll still look cool!

[rockstar1976]

I proved the black vs. lighter colour heat to myself as a kid. We would walk to the beach barefoot, and if it was really hot, the black road was too hot to walk on, but if you walked on the painted yellow line in the middle (it was out in the country with no traffic), you could easily tolerate it.

[Saint James]

From California state University at Stanislaus (Physics department)

If you are in the sun and wear black clothing, your clothing will absorb the light (and its energy) and warm up. If you wear white clothing, it will reflect the light rather than absorb it. It will not warm up as fast.

The transfer of heat from clothing to body (or vice versa) is more a matter of conduction than radiation - any electromagnetic radiation emitted (rather than reflected) is going to be of a much lower frequency (infrared) and not a major factor in heating.

At least that's my understanding of the physics.