Question

Clothes of ___________ (dark/white) colours absorb heat better than clothes of light colours.

Answer 1

Hint: When an object reflects all the colors it will appear white. That means it will not absorb any color. When an object absorbs all the colors it will appear black or very dark in color. This means that it will not reflect any color. The object that can reflect maximum colors (wavelengths) will absorb less heat.

Step by step solution:
We see color when an object reflects the particular wavelength associated with that color. For example, a leaf appears green because it absorbs all the other colors and reflects only green.

An object will appear white or very light when it reflects all the wavelengths and nothing will be absorbed.

An object will appear black or very dark when it absorbs all the wavelengths and reflects none.
Since the white reflects all the wavelengths there will be very little heat.
Black absorbs all wavelengths and hence it absorbs more heat.

Therefore dark colored clothes will absorb more heat than light-colored clothes. So, the answer is dark.

Note:Color is the primary factor that affects the absorption of heat, but many other factors affect the absorption too. It depends on the type of surface also. Shiny surfaces tend to reflect more light, while matt surfaces reflect less. If the material is reflective enough it will reflect more even if the color is darker. Adding white color to other colors will increase the reflectivity and this process is called tinting. To reduce the reflectivity we can add black to the color and it is called shading.