[Phys-L] Re: In the Private Universe

[Daniel Crowe <dcrowe@SOTC.ORG>]

I just tried the demo.  I held my hands near a 300-W halogen lamp with my
fingers parallel to the axis of symmetry of the bulb.  The palm of my left
hand was approximately normal to the line from the center of my hand to
the center of the bulb; my right hand was tilted by approximately 45
degrees from that orientation.  The centers of both palms were
approximately 20 cm from the surface of the bulb.  After approximately a
minute, the palm of my left hand was noticeably warmer than the palm of my
right hand, even than the part of my right palm that was closer to the
bulb.  I did not coat the surfaces of my palms.

Daniel Crowe
Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics
Ardmore Regional Center
dcrowe@sotc.org

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 13:53:14 -0600, Dan Crowe <dcrowe@SOTC.ORG> wrote:

> Would the demonstration work as well without the paint?  It's the
> relative flux that's important.
>
> I would hold both hands simultaneously near the lamp, with the two hands
> in different orientations.  If the same hand is held sequentially in
> different orientations, then cumulative heating might overwhelm the
> effect of orientation.
>
> A complication of the demo is that if the hand is held NEAR the lamp,
> then changing the orientation of the hand will significantly change the
> distance from the lamp to various parts of the hand.
>
> I haven't tried this demo, yet, either, because I don't have an
> appropriate lamp available.  I'll try it with a halogen lamp at home
> tonight.
>
> Daniel Crowe
> Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics
> Ardmore Regional Center
> dcrowe@sotc.org