The Hot Car Dashboard · AI Generator #GEN-774AC329
Physics · thermodynamics
Problem
On a sunny summer day, you notice that the black plastic dashboard of a car reaches a temperature of 75°C while the outdoor air temperature is only 35°C. The dashboard can be modeled as a flat black surface with area A=0.8m2 that absorbs solar radiation and loses heat to the surrounding air through convection. The solar irradiance (power per unit area) hitting the dashboard is I=800W/m2. The convective heat transfer coefficient between the dashboard and air is h=15W/(m2⋅K). Assuming the dashboard has reached thermal equilibrium, what fraction of the incident solar energy is being absorbed by the dashboard surface?