Heat Absorption

We use two cans, one painted black and the other painted white, to investigate heat absorption. The containers are placed in front of a heat source and the temperature change is recorded. This shows that the black container absorbs heat faster than the white container. Physics - Energy And Radioactivity - Learning Points. Heat absorption is affected by surface colour. White objects heat up slowly as they reflect a lot of infrared radiation instead of absorbing it; black objects heat up quickly as they absorb a lot of infrared radiation. Reflection of infrared radiation slows the rise in temperature of an object. A Twig Experiment Film. Let students experience real experiments in lab conditions anywhere, from setup, method all the way through to analysis and real-world application.