Reference: H38
Category: Heat
Purpose: Shows the reflection, absorption and emission properties of materials.
Description: Lesley's cube. Cube on turntable, filled with boiling water. Faces of cube are polished brass, aluminium, and black and white painted. Rotate in front of the thermopile. Show that the brass, being a good reflector, and therefore a poor absorber, is also a poor emitter. The black and white painted surfaces are both very similar, good absorbers of infrared, and therefore good emitters. The aluminium surface is intermediate. (The difference between brass and painted surfaces can easily be felt by a hand place in front of them.)
