Did you solve it? Do you think like a physicist?
The answer to today’s puzzle Earlier today I set you a puzzle about keeping homes cool in a heatwave. Here it is again with the solution. Imagine a room with a set of curtains. When the Sun is shining, its energy comes through the windows where it is absorbed by the curtains. The curtains get hotter and hotter until they reach a temperature at which they are radiating as much heat as they absorb.…
In a heatwave scenario, the percentage of the Sun's energy that enters a room is determined by the interaction between curtains and roller blinds. When the Sun shines through the windows, its energy is absorbed by the curtains, causing them to heat up until they radiate as much heat as they receive. The curtains disperse 50% of this heat back towards the window and 50% into the room, effectively blocking 50% of the Sun's energy.
When combined with roller blinds, the situation becomes more complex. The blinds line the windows, and the curtains cover them, providing two layers of protection against the Sun. By treating the curtain and blinds as homogeneous materials and assuming the system has reached equilibrium, we can analyze the heat flow. The curtain radiates the same amount of heat inwards and outwards, with half of the absorbed energy originating from the blinds.
Consequently, the blinds radiate twice the amount of heat in both directions, but only 3/4 of this heat comes directly from the Sun. Therefore, 33% of the Sun's energy makes its way into the room.
Written by urgent.news from Guardian Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
