Why do Hot Things Glow? | Greg Foot Answers Your Questions (Ep 13) | Head Squeeze
1,222The more thermal energy you put into an atom, the more it vibrates.. and glows. From red hot to white, Greg Foot explains atoms and the electromagnetic waves of visible light in this Headsqueeze science video.
Everything from cars to furry animals is composed of atoms and those atoms are vibrating. By adding thermal energy (heat) the atoms vibrate more and emit electromagnetic radiation. Now the mid-section of the electromagnetic spectrum is visible to the naked eye, whereas the upper and lower ranges are invisible things like X-rays and TV signals. As we add more heat, the frequency increases and we can perceive the colours to change from orange, to red, yellow, blue and finally when all colours of the visible spectrum combine, to white.
If you enjoyed this one-question format, squeeze some ideas that you would like us to cover out of your head and into the comments section below. Don't forget to subscribe for more, like us and share with your mates on Facebook and Twitter.
If you'd like to find out more about temperature at altitude check out James May's video on why is gets colder as you go higher: http://youtu.be/cimgIhtN-AU
Or if you just want to see more of Greg have a look at him explaining why we have wisdom teeth: http://youtu.be/attAQfOb4iY
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