Jersey Color & Player Temp

[02Boilermaker]

I see posts every year about wearing black jerseys in August & the white helmet topic brought it up again. I get that a black jersey will be hotter if you lay a black jersey & a white jersey on the ground on a sunny day & record surface temperatures. My question is this: Is there really much difference in the practical application? I'm sure there are plenty of engineers/scientists on this board that can explain it to me, so here are my questions/thoughts:

The players aren't wearing cotton t-shirts. Football jerseys are made of thin, lightweight performance fabrics...there's not a lot of mass/material to absorb the heat from the sun's light and then transfer to the player. There are now coatings like UA's "cold black" that reduce the "black penalty" (in terms of the surface temperature test). Most importantly (I think), there is an insulating layer between the players skin & the jersey called his pads...that would play a significant role in evening things out between jersey colors, wouldn't it? In addition, wouldn't any wind (colder than the jersey) help cool a hotter black jersey more than a cooler white jersey & further even things out?
Does any of that make sense? I'm not questioning whether the jersey is hotter...a black jersey will definitely be hotter. My question is whether the player is significantly hotter. Any thoughtful explanations or reasoning is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[JohnnyDoeBoiler]

There are so many options now to help with player temperature in the hot games and practices that I doubt it truly makes a noticeable difference. Pads are much lighter yet stronger and there are cooling fans and inserts to run cool water through the pads to cool a player down. If there were a black uniform disadvantage, I would say it would go to the defensive lineman as they probably run more and exert more energy throughout a game than anyone else.

 

[uncleboiler]

Heat is not just coming in off of the sun. It's also coming off a person's own, sweating, warm-blooded, mammalian body, which is a lot closer than the sun is. When all that body heat hits the white clothing covering it, it gets reflected right back towards the body. When we wear white on hot days, we cook ourselves.

The best color to keep cool in the heat, it turns out, is to wear black. Black absorbs everything coming in from the sun, sure. But black also absorbs energy from the body instead of reflecting it back. Now, the helpfulness of black clothes depends on finding black clothes that are the same thickness and looseness as white clothes. Black clothing also needs a little help from atmospheric conditions. Once it has absorbed heat, it has to have some way to radiate it away. If there's even a little wind, black clothing is the better choice for those who want to keep cool.

 

[GodFamilyCountryPurdue]

Originally posted by uncleboiler:
Heat is not just coming in off of the sun. It's also coming off a person's own, sweating, warm-blooded, mammalian body, which is a lot closer than the sun is. When all that body heat hits the white clothing covering it, it gets reflected right back towards the body. When we wear white on hot days, we cook ourselves.

The best color to keep cool in the heat, it turns out, is to wear black. Black absorbs everything coming in from the sun, sure. But black also absorbs energy from the body instead of reflecting it back. Now, the helpfulness of black clothes depends on finding black clothes that are the same thickness and looseness as white clothes. Black clothing also needs a little help from atmospheric conditions. Once it has absorbed heat, it has to have some way to radiate it away. If there's even a little wind, black clothing is the better choice for those who want to keep cool.

Way to copy and paste this link. Too bad there is no logic to back any of it up. Black is way hotter in the summer.

link

 

[pboiler18]

Originally posted by GodFamilyCountryPurdue:

Originally posted by uncleboiler:
Heat is not just coming in off of the sun. It's also coming off a person's own, sweating, warm-blooded, mammalian body, which is a lot closer than the sun is. When all that body heat hits the white clothing covering it, it gets reflected right back towards the body. When we wear white on hot days, we cook ourselves.

The best color to keep cool in the heat, it turns out, is to wear black. Black absorbs everything coming in from the sun, sure. But black also absorbs energy from the body instead of reflecting it back. Now, the helpfulness of black clothes depends on finding black clothes that are the same thickness and looseness as white clothes. Black clothing also needs a little help from atmospheric conditions. Once it has absorbed heat, it has to have some way to radiate it away. If there's even a little wind, black clothing is the better choice for those who want to keep cool.

Way to copy and paste this link. Too bad there is no logic to back any of it up. Black is way hotter in the summer.

I don't think anybody believed him...but that was based more off of his previous posts of content and not this one.

 

[uncleboiler]

Well, I guess as long as "coach" hazell and his "staff" are in charge, jersey colors are the least of this team's problems.

 

[FiveWeight]

Originally posted by uncleboiler:
Heat is not just coming in off of the sun. It's also coming off a person's own, sweating, warm-blooded, mammalian body, which is a lot closer than the sun is. When all that body heat hits the white clothing covering it, it gets reflected right back towards the body. When we wear white on hot days, we cook ourselves.

The best color to keep cool in the heat, it turns out, is to wear black. Black absorbs everything coming in from the sun, sure. But black also absorbs energy from the body instead of reflecting it back. Now, the helpfulness of black clothes depends on finding black clothes that are the same thickness and looseness as white clothes. Black clothing also needs a little help from atmospheric conditions. Once it has absorbed heat, it has to have some way to radiate it away. If there's even a little wind, black clothing is the better choice for those who want to keep cool.

Huh? I think you have light energy and radiant heat confused. People don't lose heat in the form of light. That would be weird. If you were walking home in the dark you could maybe just unbutton your top buttons on your shirt and jog a bit to light up your trail. And if it was cold out you could wear a black shirt to stay warm.




This post was edited on 4/20 11:57 PM by FiveWeight

 

[RegionWarrior101]

This sounds very Costanza-like when he went to cotton uniforms for the Yankees.