COLUMBIA, S.C. — During the summer months, the Sun’s rays are more direct which can lead to sunburn but more noticeably hotter temperatures during this time of the year. That is why wearing the correct clothes can be very important if you are trying to stay cool.
When we measure air temperature, we take that measurement in the shade. In the case of this Wednesday afternoon, it was 93 degrees in Columbia, SC.
To address staying cool, we did an experiment at our station where we measured the temperature of two identical cotton t-shirts; the only difference was the color. The tool for this was an infrared thermometer that can read temperatures from -58 to 1022 degrees Fahrenheit.
Getting our initial readings, we laid the shirts down in the shade of some trees to get closer to the actual air temperature.
The white shirt came in at 96.5 degrees, already a few degrees warmer than the air. The black shirt was hotter at 99.9 degrees in the shade.
After taking these readings we moved everything into direct sunlight and this is when things began to heat up!
The white shirt was much hotter this time at 106.9 degrees but it is the shocking sight of the black shirt that reached a scorching 136.4 degrees, which is 43.4 degrees hotter than the air temperature outside!
This all comes down to the science of color. The Sun emits white light which is easily absorbed by the color black. Lighter materials reflect most of this sunlight away and in return, they absorb less of the heat energy.