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The Sun warms things

Heat and matter · level 1, lesson 3 of 6

A question to start

On a sunny day, why does a bench in the sunshine feel warm and the one in the shade feel cool?

The idea

Sunlight brings warmth. Things the Sun shines on get warmer. In the shade, something blocks the sunlight, so it stays cooler.

warmcool

Dark things get warmer in the Sun than light-coloured things. A black car on a sunny day gets hotter than a white one.

On Mars, the Sun warms the ground too. At midday near the middle of Mars, the ground can be as warm as a spring day, but the thin air above it stays freezing. If you stood there, your feet would feel spring and your head would feel winter.

Worked examples

1. A sunny wall. Put your hand on a wall the Sun has shone on all morning. It feels warm.

2. A shady wall. The wall on the other side of the house feels cooler.

3. Two T-shirts. A black T-shirt in the sunshine feels hotter than a white one.

Try it

  1. Why is it cooler in the shade?
  2. Which gets hotter in the Sun, a black car or a white car?
  3. Where would you sit on a hot day to stay cool?
  4. On Mars at midday, which is warmer: the ground or the air at your head?
Answers
  1. Something, such as a tree or a roof, blocks the sunlight.
  2. The black car.
  3. In the shade.
  4. The ground.

Common mistake

"The Sun only gives light." It gives warmth too. That is why things in the sunshine get warm.

Where it leads