Heated bodies emit energy by radiation, and this type of energy can be: visible and not visible.
THE visible energy propagates in the form of light and is considered larger. The smaller energy propagates in the form of heat, depending on its intensity.
This is actually the only difference between heat and light seen by physics. But the biggest difference between such phenomena is noticed by our eyes, where the radiation we don't see is heat, while the radiation seen is light.
Some substances are actually transparent to light radiation, but opaque in heat transmission, such as plant greenhouses, which receive sunlight but retain the heat inside, thus allowing their heating. Such an event can be compared to the greenhouse effect, where the Earth would be radiated by sunlight, but due to the large excess of CO2 in the atmosphere, this heat is blocked, causing an increase in the planet's average temperature, which results in serious consequences.
When a body is heated, it absorbs some of the heat and reflects the other. Bodies that absorb heat well are also the ones that emit the best, since those that absorb less tend to emit less.
We have as an example the clothes. On days with colder weather, it is recommended to wear darker clothes, as it absorbs heat better, as well as reflecting it; and on hot days, light clothing as they absorb less heat.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
By Talita A. angels
Graduated in Physics
Brazil School Team
Thermology - Physics - Brazil School
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
ANGELS, Talita Alves dos. "Heat Absorption and Emission"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/fisica/absorcao-emissao-calor.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
