cdgmoney250
Well-Known Member
"Infrared light is certainly not any hotter than visible light.
On the contrary, the same number of infrared photons carry a lot less heat than visible light photons.
What is the hottest object with which we are all familiar? Why, the Sun of course. And guess what... most of the Sun's heat comes in the form of visible light. The Earth re-radiates the same heat into space (if it didn't, we'd all boil in short order) in the form of infrared light, but to do so, it emits approx. ten times as many (infrared) photons than the number of (visible light) photons it receives.
So why, then, is it your perception that infrared is "hotter" than visible light? Because most hot things that you are familiar with in everyday experience are a lot less hot than the Sun, and the peak of their emission spectrum is in the infrared, not the visible. Meanwhile, the light sources you typically encounter are feeble, emitting a lot less power than a typical heat source.
But if I were to make you stand in front of a source of 1000 watts of white light, I assure you, it would feel just as hot as standing in front of a 1000 watt electric heater. No difference... a thousand watts is a thousand watts. But the heater would be emitting a great many more (lower energy, infrared) photons than the light source to produce the same 1000 watts. Conversely, if I made the heater emit the same number of photons, it would only emit around 100 watts, so it would feel a lot less hot than the light source."
Written Jan 21 By Viktor Toth physicist/ IT specialist
https://www.quora.com/Why-would-infrared-light-be-hotter-than-visible-light-which-has-more-energy
On the contrary, the same number of infrared photons carry a lot less heat than visible light photons.
What is the hottest object with which we are all familiar? Why, the Sun of course. And guess what... most of the Sun's heat comes in the form of visible light. The Earth re-radiates the same heat into space (if it didn't, we'd all boil in short order) in the form of infrared light, but to do so, it emits approx. ten times as many (infrared) photons than the number of (visible light) photons it receives.
So why, then, is it your perception that infrared is "hotter" than visible light? Because most hot things that you are familiar with in everyday experience are a lot less hot than the Sun, and the peak of their emission spectrum is in the infrared, not the visible. Meanwhile, the light sources you typically encounter are feeble, emitting a lot less power than a typical heat source.
But if I were to make you stand in front of a source of 1000 watts of white light, I assure you, it would feel just as hot as standing in front of a 1000 watt electric heater. No difference... a thousand watts is a thousand watts. But the heater would be emitting a great many more (lower energy, infrared) photons than the light source to produce the same 1000 watts. Conversely, if I made the heater emit the same number of photons, it would only emit around 100 watts, so it would feel a lot less hot than the light source."
Written Jan 21 By Viktor Toth physicist/ IT specialist
https://www.quora.com/Why-would-infrared-light-be-hotter-than-visible-light-which-has-more-energy