Question

The desert sand is very hot in a day and very cold at night. Explain the reason.

Answer 1

Desert sand has a very low specific heat capacity because it absorbs and radiates heat readily and quickly. During the day, the sand absorbs heat from the Sun rapidly and holds on to it, making the sand very hot. During the night, the sand quickly radiates all the heat gained during the day into the space as there are no clouds to trap the heat. This makes the desert sand very cold at night.