But it works both ways with the emissivity.
You should paint the back of the radiator white so that it adsorbs
less head from the even hotter engine, and paint the front black
so it radiates more heat to the cooler grille and outside of the car.
Here's an interesting experiment: Take two metal boxes. Give
one a shiny, polished surface, and paint the other white.
Leave them out in the sun. Which gets hotter, and why?
Doug Braun
'72 Spit
At 09:41 PM 8/7/00 -0700, you wrote:
>Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer were not my favorite
>courses in school, but if I remember correctly the
>emissivity value for a flat black surface was the best
>for shedding heat by convection and radiation.
>
>So while copper fins might look cool, they won't cool
>as well as black (as long as the paint doesn't act as
>an insulator.)
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