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(c) Surfaces - radiation, reflection & absorption of thermal radiation (infrared) experiments

Although objects are constantly absorbing and emitting radiation, not all the radiation is absorbed because some of it is reflected away and absorbed elsewhere.

The nature of the surface of any materials affects the relative amounts of radiation absorbed or emitted.

See experiments further down in this section to investigate this phenomenon.

Heat transfer by electromagnetic radiation is usually via the infrared part of the spectrum (thermal radiation).

 

Dark, matt surfaces are the best absorbers and best emitters of infrared radiation

eg rough black surfaces. Black matt surfaces are the nearest thing to a black body radiator and emitter.

Applications of maximising absorption of infrared radiation

Solar panels for hot water comprise of pipes carrying water to be heated, set in a black matt surface to efficiently absorb the infrared radiation from the Sun.

Applications of maximising emission of infrared radiation

Hot water radiators should have a matt surface, preferably black, but rarely so - they don't look very attractive!

They maximise radiation of infrared into the room.

The pipes at the back of a refrigerator should be matt black to maximise thermal energy transfer by infrared red thermal radiation from the heat pump to the surrounding air/wall.

The heat pump is a means of transferring thermal energy from the inside of the refrigerator to the outside.

 

Light, shiny surfaces are poorest absorbers and poorest emitters of infrared radiation

eg white gloss paint, shiny metal surfaces.

Applications of maximising reflection of infrared radiation

Light, shiny surfaces are good reflectors of infrared radiation, this maybe to keep heat in to keep things warm or to minimise heat radiation in to keep things cool eg the silvered surfaces of the walls of a vacuum flask.

Specialised firefighter suits have shiny surfaces to reflect infrared radiation when going to high temperature environments.

Applications of minimising emission of infrared radiation

The shiny surface of 'silver' teapots reduces heat loss by infrared emission, slowing down the cooling effect of the surrounding cool air.

 

Simple experiment to demonstrate the effect of surface on the rate of emission or absorption of infrared radiation

1. Simple experiment to compare the absorption of infrared by two different surfaces

Two identical metal plates (same metal in area and thickness - fair test) are set up, equidistant from a radiant heater - a good source of thermal radiation (infrared).

The metal plate on the left can be coated with a matt black material and the other on the right, with a shiny metal surface or the metal surface painted in gloss (shiny) white paint.

At the 'shaded' side of the plate you fix on a brass weight with a drop of molten wax, which holds it in position on cooling.

The radiant heater is a powerful source of thermal radiation (infrared) and is absorbed by the surface of the metal plates.

When the plate is hot enough, the wax melts, and brass weight slides down!

You can time how long this takes with different surfaces for the same metal and maybe different metals.

You should observe the blackened surface plate heats up much faster than the shiny metallic/white surface, as indicated by the shorter time needed for the brass weight to fall.

 

2. Using boiling tubes of hot water with covered with different surfaces to compare their emission of thermal radiation (infrared)

You set up four identical pyrex glass boiling tubes in a test tube rack.

Each is covered by wrapping around the boiling tubes the same area of paper of different textures.

(Two factors to keep constant for a fair test)

1.  black matt paper,  2. black paper with gloss surface,  3. white matt paper,  4. white gloss paper

You can try other materials too, such as aluminium foil.

Each is filled with the same volume of boiling hot water and lightly seal with an insulating rubber bung.

(Third factor to keep constant for a 'fair test', so only the external surface is varied)

Allow a minute for the boiling tube and coating to warm up and the, at regular time 1 minute intervals, temporarily remove the bung and measure the temperature, replacing the bung each time.

A graph of the results (temperature versus time) shows you the cooling curves (idealised below):

From these you can measure the initial negative temperature gradients as the boiling tubes of water cool down.

The black matt surface boiling tubes cools the fastest - steepest downward temperature gradient - best emitting surface

The gloss white paper should cool the slowest - the lowest downward temperature gradient - the poorest emitting surface

This fits in with the described pattern of behaviour described above.

Doing cooling curve graphs is a better data analysis than just one set of readings.

The rate of cooling should be in the surface order

matt black  >  shiny black  > white matt  > shiny white

 

3. Using the Leslie cube - multisided box can with different surfaces to compare their rates of infrared emission

The Leslie cube is a hollow aluminium or steel metal can with four different surface coatings on the four vertical sides.

e.g. matt and gloss black paint, matt and gloss white paint, or other surfaces like shiny and dull metal surfaces.

The cube needs to be made of a good conductor so the surfaces heat up rapidly.

An infrared (thermal radiation) detector is positioned in line with the middle of a surface of the cube and connected to some kind of meter or data logger.

The Leslie cube is filled with boiling hot water - take care!

Being a cube shape ensures the same surface area is emitting radiation - fair test factor.

The can is given a few  minutes to warm up all the surfaces - all will come to the same temperature (fair test).

The thermal radiation reading is taken for all four faces of the Leslie Cube, making sure there is an equal distance between the Leslie cube and detector - must be kept absolutely constant to make it a 'fair test'.

The radiation spreads out and intensity decreases by a factor of 1 / distance squared (inverse square law).

The higher the 'meter' reading, the greater the intensity of radiation emission and the more efficient the surface in heat transfer by emitting thermal radiation (infrared).

The value of the infrared should be in the surface order

matt black paint >  shiny black paint > white matt/shiny paint  > shiny metal

 

For more on heat transfer see Introduction to heat transfer - conduction, convection and radiation revision notes

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(d) Global warming - the greenhouse effect

The ideas about surfaces from above in section (c), and those introduced about wavelength/frequency in section (a) can now be applied to considering the Earth's temperature.

The overall temperature of the Earth depends on three factors relating to EM radiation

Absorption - how much of the incoming EM radiation from the Sun is absorbed by land and water (seas, oceans, lakes etc)

Reflection - how much of the incoming radiation is reflected by the clouds, land or water.

Emission - how much of the absorbed radiation is re-emitted.

Diagram of some of the possible absorptions and emissions of the Earth's surface and atmosphere

(the outcomes of the incoming FM radiation from the Sun, but in no particular order)

1. Reflection of the Sun's EM radiation from clouds.

2. Absorption of the Sun's EM radiation by clouds.

3. Re-radiated EM radiation totally escaping from the Earth's surface.

4. Direct absorption of the Sun's EM radiation by the Earth's surface - short wavelength as wells visible light and a little uv radiation.

5. Reflection of incoming sunlight EM radiation by the atmosphere

6.  Re-radiated EM radiation from the Earth's surface - scattered by the clouds and atmosphere and eventually re-absorbed by the atmosphere, including greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane.

7. Direct reflection back into space of incoming EM radiation from the Sun.

Land coated in 'shiny' ice will act as a good reflector, so if it melts, more radiation will be absorbed.

8. Direct absorption by the atmosphere of the incoming Sun's EM radiation.

During in daytime a huge amount of EM radiation is transferred to the Earth's surface and atmosphere.

Some radiation is absorbed by the atmosphere but a lot passes through and absorbed by the Earth's surface. This warms up the surface and increases the temperature, particularly areas in bright sunlight.

Overall more EM radiation is absorbed than is emitted, so the temperature rises in daylight.

The clearer the sky, the less sunlight energy is reflected back into space, the higher the maximum temperature reached since more infrared radiation reaches, and is absorbed by, the Earth's surface.

The reverse is true at night, when more FM radiation is emitted than is absorbed.

The lack of sunlight causes a decrease in temperature, and the heat loss increases if the sky is clear, because some of the re-radiated EM radiation is absorbed or reflected back off clouds.

It is also absorbed by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane, which overall adds to a reduction in the temperature fall of the earth's surface.

The greatest fall in temperature occurs when the nighttime sky is clear and the emitted infrared is not reflected or absorbed by clouds.

Conversely, with cloudy nights, some of the emitted radiation from the Earth's surface is reflected back off the clouds or absorbed by them, so the nighttime temperature fall is not as great..

In terms of the amount of radiation that the Earth absorbs, emits and reflects, the net result is fairly constant temperature.

It is neither too hot or too cold for many forms of life to survive.

Global warming

However, any significant changes in the Earth's atmosphere may cause the average temperature to change and currently it is believed (consensus scientific view) that global warming is taking place due to the increase in carbon dioxide levels due to fossil fuel burning.

The greenhouse gases, principally, carbon dioxide (CO₂), water vapour (H₂O) and methane (CH₄) absorb radiation in the Earth's atmosphere which allows the Earth to warm up. The relatively small concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane have a potentially a large and disproportionate effect on the Earth's average temperature - they are really good greenhouse gases!

There is a net transfer of heat energy from the much hotter Sun to the much cooler Earth.

In terms of frequency, the principal frequency of EM radiation from the Sun is much greater than that of the Earth.

Although all particles (atoms/molecules) absorb particular frequencies of radiation from the Sun, the higher frequency radiation (particularly the infrared, IR) gets through to the Earth's surface (see diagram above). The higher frequency IR is not as readily absorbed by most molecules in the atmosphere and reaches the Earth's surface.

The re-emitted infrared radiation from the Earth's surface is of lower frequency (longer wavelength) than the incoming IR radiation. It is the likes of carbon dioxide and methane (and other human-made molecules) that readily absorb the lower frequency radiation keeping the Earth warmer than if this radiation escaped.

The more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the greater the absorption of the re-emitted IR radiation and the warmer the Earth gets and it is believed that human activity is contributing to this!

This increases the temperature of the Earth compared to what it would be without the atmosphere - this is one reason why organic based life exists on Earth - not to cold - Mars (little atmosphere) and our moon (no atmosphere) are much colder.

Certain gases in the atmosphere are more effective than others in absorbing the re-radiated energy - water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone all occur naturally,

but we have added other greenhouse gases like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (includes HCFCs and HFCs), albeit in very tiny concentrations as well as significant extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from fossil fuel burning - both quantities are still n the increase!

The steady rise in carbon dioxide concentration means more re-radiated infrared radiation is being absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere.

The result is that the Earth is warming up a bit more than might have been expected and the average temperature is rising.

In particular, it is the rising level of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning that is the most worrying and major contributor to global warming above what we might expect without burning fossil fuels.

Graph 1

Graph 1 shows the recent global warming compared to most of the last 1500 years.

Graph 2

Graph 3

Graphs 2 and 3 show the steady rise in carbon dioxide concentration as result of the increasing use of fossil fuels.

 

You can have cooling effects!

Huge volcanic eruptions transfer enormous quantities of fie particles into the atmosphere.

These particles scatter sunlight and decrease the amount of the Sun's infrared radiation that reaches the Earth's surface.

This causes a cooling effect, and the Earth's temperature can be significantly lowered.

This is sometimes called a 'volcanic winter' effect e.g.

The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora, a massive volcano in Indonesia caused what came to be known as the "Year Without a Summer" of 1816. Europe, still recovering from the Napoleonic Wars, suffered from food shortages. There were large scale crop failures from the ensuing reduction in both global temperatures and intensity of sunlight.

I'm not writing any more on this here, because I've already written a lot in my GCSE chemistry notes on the evidence and possible consequences of rising carbon dioxide levels and global warming on ...

Global warming, climate change, reducing our carbon footprint from fossil fuel burning

I've included everything mentioned in any GCSE chemistry or physics syllabus relating to the 'Greenhouse Effect'.

See also Biodiversity, land management, waste management, maintaining ecosystems - conservation gcse biology

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(e) The super 'greenhouse effect' the planet Venus

Venus is the 2nd planet from the Sun and is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty - perhaps because it shone the brightest of the five planets known to ancient astronomers - but looks can be deceptive, Venus has no love for the human body!

The surface temperature of Venus is up to 465^oC.

The surface atmospheric pressure is 90 atm (90 x that on Earth).

The lower atmosphere is mainly carbon dioxide (96.5% CO₂) and nitrogen (3.5% N₂).

[in the lower atmosphere and upper clouds there may be small amounts of sulfur dioxide (SO₂), oxygen (O₂), water (H₂O), noble gases - helium (He), neon (Ne) & argon (Ar), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄), basalt rock particles and iron(III) chloride (FeCl₃)]

The surface area and volume are about 0.9 x that of Earth.

On Venus it rains sulfuric acid, but this evaporates before reaching the very hot surface

The surface of Venus is dry because it is too hot for liquids to condense on

The surface of Venus is relatively flat but very volcanic with still some active volcanoes.

The dense lower carbon dioxide atmosphere is encased in 80 km thick clouds of mainly sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) and some sulfur dioxide (SO₂) - these clouds reflect 90% of sunlight - which is why it seems so bright, as well as being closer to the Sun than the Earth.

This reflection of sunlight would tend to make the planet cooler - a global dimming effect.

BUT, the hot surface of over 460^oC is a powerful emitter of infrared EM radiation.

This thermal radiation is absorbed by the lower carbon dioxide rich atmosphere (96.5% CO₂).

This produces a super greenhouse effect compared to planet Earth (0.04% atmospheric carbon dioxide).

Little (if any?) infrared radiation escapes from the planet's atmosphere.

So the surface temperature is kept at a much higher temperature than if the infrared could escape and the net effect completely overrides the dimming effect of the outer reflective clouds.

Note:

(a) Compared to Earth the surface temperature is much hotter - a much stronger emitter of infrared EM radiation AND the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is 2400 x that of Earth! - 2400 x the greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide gas on Earth!

(b) The greenhouse effect on Venus is different to that on Earth in one respect - it doesn't actually involve the absorption and remission of infrared radiation - the infrared source on Venus is only from the hot surface.

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WAVES - electromagnetic radiation, sound, optics-lenses, light and astronomy revision notes index

General introduction to the types and properties of waves, ripple tank expts, how to do wave calculations

Illuminated & self-luminous objects, reflection visible light, ray box experiments, ray diagrams, mirror uses

Refraction and diffraction, the visible light spectrum, prism investigations, ray diagrams explained gcse physics

Electromagnetic spectrum, sources, types, properties, uses (including medical) and dangers gcse physics

The absorption and emission of radiation by materials - temperature & surface factors including global warming

See also Global warming, climate change, reducing our carbon footprint from fossil fuel burning gcse chemistry

Optics - types of lenses (convex, concave, uses), experiments and ray diagrams, correction of eye defects

The visible spectrum of colour, light filters and explaining the colour of objects  gcse physics revision notes

Sound waves, properties explained, speed measure, uses of sound, ultrasound, infrasound, earthquake waves

The Structure of the Earth, crust, mantle, core and earthquake waves (seismic wave analysis) gcse notes

Astronomy - solar system, stars, galaxies and use of telescopes and satellites gcse physics revision notes

The life cycle of stars - mainly worked out from emitted electromagnetic radiation gcse physics revision notes

Cosmology - the Big Bang Theory of the Universe, the red-shift & microwave background radiation gcse physics