Ask A Scientist General Science Archive

name         Anna
grade        6-8
location     N/A

Question -   If the color white absorbs less heat
than the color black, why do white skinned people burn easier than
black skinned people? And does this mean that people with black skin feel
hotter when they're under the sun?
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Hi Anna
The white skinned people burn mor easily (and feel more the heat)
bacause the white skin lacks a pigment called melanin that is
a protection against the Sun light and heat. The black skinned
people have plenty of this pigment and its dark skin is due to it.
The "adaptation" and the "evolution" theories say that the
dark skin developed  exactly in Africa where humans
lived in the open and that is very hot.

Thanks for asking NEWTON!
Mabel
(Dr. Mabel Rodrigues)
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