HOW THE SOLAR RADIOMETER WORKS

When warm light, that is sunlight or the light of electric bulbs (but not cold neon light) strikes the wings resting on the needle in the radiometer bowl they start to turn. Depending on the power of the light, the wings turn at varying speeds. Inside the glass bowl there is a partial vacuum produced by the air being thinned in order to keep the balance between air resistance and the turning power of the solar energy. The black surfaces of the wings absorb more light than the white surfaces, therefore the pressure on the black surfaces is much stronger than on the white surfaces. The more the molecules in the bowl heat up, the stronger the pressure on the black surfaces and the wings start to turn steadily.(Molecular theory of Brown.)