A few students and I were talking about halogen cooktops, the type that
uses radiant energy to heat pots quickly.
These cooktops use high-intensity halogen lamps (like the kind used in
automobile headlights) that emit electromagnetic energy. The lamps are
mounted below the surface of a ceramic cooktop. The radiation passes
through the ceramic cooktop and is absorbed by the bottom of a pot that is
resting on it.
Some questions were raised that no one could answer:
Do special pots that have to be used with these cooktops? One student
thought that the typical pot with a shiny metallic bottom might not work
well, because it would reflect most of the radiation. Do the bottoms of the
pots have to be 'blackened' in any manner so as to increase the absorption?
Does anyone know the dominant spectral range of these waves: UV, visible,
infrared, etc.? We're guessing its the visible range, but someone mentioned
that the lamps are coated with a special filtering material.
Thanks for the help.
Ken Johnson
Department of Physics
Southern Illinois Universtiy