LETTER OF THE MONTH
INBOX
Speak your mind…
By absorbing more heat, darker hair also stops more of the Sun’s radiation from passing through to the scalp
© Getty
Hot headed
Hi HIW,
How come black-haired people’s heads get hotter than blondes? Me and my friend noticed that my head was hot every time the Sun shone on it for a long time, while my blonde friend never had a problem.
Lezeiram
This is a good question Lezeiram, and it is all to do with why we see different objects as different colours. Black and dark-coloured objects absorb more of the light from the Sun, while lighter coloured objects will reflect more of its wavelengths. These wavelengths of visible light are what we see when we are observing colour.
When talking about hair colour, your darker hair is much better at absorbing light from the Sun and converting this into heat energy than your friend’s. Blonde hair will only absorb some light, reflecting the rest away from the head.
When spending the same amount of time standing in the Sun, your head will retain more heat and get warmer than a blonde person’s.