Tag Archives: Old News

Catching Back Up!

I had some old content that is worth keeping around from the past mentions page:

Trivia!

Why are automobile radiators painted black?
Automobile radiators are painted black because black has the highest coefficient of emissivity. This means that black radiates heat most effectively of any color. You may have heard of a black body radiator, the coefficient of emissivity is unrelated to this phenomena so don’t get confused!

Why shouldn’t you store leftovers in the “tin” can that they came in?
The cans that you purchase your fruit/beans/etc in are actually made of steel which has been tin plated. The problem is that the steel and tin are electrochemically active, this means that the tin and steel will exchange electrons, causing rust! The reason that the cans don’t rust before you get them is that the inside of the can is oxygen free (otherwise there would be lots of botulism). The reduction reaction on the steel requires oxygen, so if you pop open your can of fruit and toss the remainder in the fridge, when you get it back out to finish it you’ll be eating the iron atoms (rust) that have started to form in solution!