  We investigate the cold and warm dust properties during galaxy interactions
using a merging galaxy sample ordered into a chronological sequence from pre-
to post-mergers. Our sample comprises a total of 29 merging systems selected to
have far-infrared and sub-millimeter observations. We use the 100-to-850 micron
flux density ratio, f100/f850, as a proxy to the mass fraction of the warm and
the cold dust in these systems. We find evidence for an increase in f100/f850
along the merging sequence from early to advanced mergers and interpret this
trend as an increase of the warm relative to the cold dust mass. We argue that
the two key parameters affecting the f100/f850 flux ratio is the star-formation
rate and the dust content of individual systems relative to the stars. Using a
sophisticated model for the absorption and re-emission of the stellar UV
radiation by dust we show that these parameters can indeed explain both the
increase and the observed scatter in the f100/f850 along the merging galaxy
sequence.
