Physical Science Temperature and Radiation EPCC
Refer to your textbook Conceptual Physics, 11th edition. Read chapter 16 on heat transfer and
chapter 26 (pages 458 – 461) on the electromagnetic spectrum.
Define the following terms related to heat transfer:
• Conduction
• Convection
• Radiation
From your reading, explain how infrared thermometers work within three (3)
sentences.
More than meets the eye.
Below are images of the same location, but taken at different dates from both satellite and
ground level. Refe
ing to figure 1, the top row images were taken on XXXXXXXXXX, while the
ottom row images were taken on XXXXXXXXXX.
Figure 1: (a) and (d): black and white images of the Chihuahuan Desert region on different dates
taken from the GOES-17 satellite. (b) and (e): Infrared images of the same region. Note the color-
coded temperature scale on the right-hand side. (c) and (f): Ground images located in the
Chihuahuan Desert.
(a) (b) (c)
(d) (e) (f)
Physical Science Temperature and Radiation EPCC
Questions (answer within 3 sentences):
1. Study images (b) and (e) from figure 1. How are the images different? Which one shows a
cooler temperature profile?
2. What is the ground temperature around El Paso in figure 1b and figure 1e?
3. Can you tell from the black and white satellite images, shown in figures (a) and (d), that
there was a temperature difference? How about in figures (c) and (f)? Why or why not?
4. Explain why there would be a temperature difference between the top and bottom rows.