Sunlight is solar radiation. When filtered through the Earth's atmosphere, this radiation hits the Earth as a combination of bright light and intense heat. Sunlight is important to nearly all plant and animal life on this planet. It stimulates the photosynthesis process in plants, which is a vital component in releasing oxygen into the atmosphere, and influences the climate and seasons. Exposure to sunlight is also responsible for helping to create Vitamin D within the human body, though too much exposure can cause skin cancer.
Lighter colors tend to reflect more sunlight than they absorb. As a result, light-colored objects tend to be cooler than their dark-colored counterparts. Developers capitalize on this principle by using lighter-colored materials to build roofs that are designed to reflect sunlight and produce significant energy savings for a house, apartment complex or office building. Runners, cyclists and other outdoor athletes also apply this principle by wearing light-colored sportswear. It keeps their bodies cooler while competing or exercising, which can lead to an extra energy boost.
Dark-colored materials heat up much faster in sunlight because they reflect less of it than lighter materials and absorb heat more rapidly. Solar panels are made from dark-colored materials for this reason. A solar panel can trap sunlight and use the heat and energy produced from it to meet energy consumption needs for a single home or a larger building. Darker clothing is popular as winter wear because its heat absorbing properties help keep a person warmer amid icy temperatures.
Sunlight has a unique interaction with black objects. When we see colors in nature and elsewhere, it is actually reflected wavelengths of light. When all light is absorbed, there is no color, and only black remains. In space, this is how the black hole gained its name. It is the most prominent example of a black object absorbing all sunlight from nearby stars and not reflecting it back. For this reason, black holes are detected through other means such as measuring radiation emissions or gravitational pull on nearby objects. Absorbing all sunlight makes black objects trap more heat and become warmer more quickly than any other object.
Even though dark colors may feel warmer than lighter colors, wearing dark colors can be more beneficial to a person's long-term health. Darker colors in fabrics made from cotton offer better protection against harmful ultraviolet rays. It means you don't stay as cool while spending time outside in the sun. Still, absorbing fewer UV rays through your clothing also carries benefits because it means that your risk of developing skin cancer decreases over time.