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Aviation

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  • $\begingroup$ I'm led to believe cost isn't the only reason... Something about white reflecting heat? airliners.net answers.yahoo.com $\endgroup$
    – Danny Beckett
    Commented Mar 17, 2014 at 3:25
  • $\begingroup$ I'm not sure what the weight differential is - when I go in for my paint job I'll have to pick some brains on that. I imagine the difference isn't too substantial, but on the scale of an airliner an ounce or two per gallon would add up to quite a bit of weight :-) $\endgroup$
    – voretaq7
    Commented Mar 17, 2014 at 3:29
  • $\begingroup$ @DannyBeckett, Surfaces that appear white appear so because they reflect all wavelengths of light. Surfaces that appear black appear so because they absorb all wavelengths of light. Other colors are in between. When a material absorbs light energy, it gets transferred into heat energy. I'm not sure that this is the primary reason it's commonly used on aircraft, but I'm sure it does help. $\endgroup$
    – reirab
    Commented Mar 17, 2014 at 16:53
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    $\begingroup$ Are you sure white is lighter? Coloured paint is not white paint with a colour added: white paint is typically itself coloured with titanium dioxide. $\endgroup$
    – David Richerby
    Commented Mar 19, 2014 at 1:34
  • $\begingroup$ white paint, itself, has a colorant added to it. Most truly white paints use titanium dioxide as a colorant. $\endgroup$
    – Rayanth
    Commented Jul 1, 2020 at 18:09