How hot is the pavement (sidewalk) on a 90-95 degree day?!


Question: How hot is the pavement (sidewalk) on a 90-95 degree day?
I realize this is going to sound incredibly silly, but please answer seriously. Today, many people went barefoot for TOMS One Day Without Shoes, which raises awareness for the millions of children around the world who have to go without this basic necessity everyday of their lives. I am a big fan of TOMS Shoes, so against my better judgment I participated in this for the first half of the day. I say against my better judgment because I live in Tempe, Arizona. So for the first half of today, I walked around the ASU campus without shoes. Lots of colleges participate in this. Then again, lots of colleges aren't in areas that are currently experiencing 95 degree, clear sky and sunny days. I've lived in Arizona my whole life, and I remember many a time when I ran from my garage to my mailbox on a hot 115 degree day barefoot, and could only bear it when literally sprinting and hopping from one foot to the other. But this was no trip to the mailbox, and thank goodness it isn't really even summer yet here, or else the whole event would have been a no-go.

Anyways, I am wondering if anyone knows about how hot the temperatures were on the pavement here in Arizona today where it maintained a solid 90 degrees for the majority of the day. Needless to say, I have blisters and what I think are probably a few mild burns. I know this seems like a dumb question. Going into it I knew it probably wasn't the best idea, so you don't have to tell me that. I would just really appreciate any answers if anybody happens to know! Thank you so much!

Answers:

The ultimate temperature depends on the environmental conditions of the day you test. Wind, outside temp, humidity, latitude, cloud cover, orientation to the sun ...all effect the ultimate temperature.

Look at this website and it says the solar reflectance for old asphalt is about .10, which means 90% of the infrared of the sun heat is being absorbed by the asphalt. With the sun emitting approximately 1000 watts per square meter at earth's surface it wouldn't seem to unlikely to achieve upwards of 150 F on windless, warm, sunny days.

http://www.concretepromotion.com/educati…




The consumer health information on answer-health.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007-2011 answer-health.com -   Terms of Use -   Contact us

Health Categories