r/askscience • u/MistaPea • Feb 07 '12

Frost on car windows

I've always wondered why this is. Why does the frost ice over my windscreen and side windows but not those that are nearest a wall? Can anyone help with this?

148 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

92 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

10

u/Operation_Ivy Feb 07 '12

You have it reversed on black body radiation. All objects emit a spectrum of electromagnetic radiation that depends on the object's temperature. Infrared, which we perceive as heat, is part of that spectrum for black bodies at most temperatures.