Abstract

There are several mechanisms whereby thermal energy heat- can be transferred between
two bodies of different temperature. The flow of heat is of great interest and use in
engineering applications and thermodynamical processes. This is the mechanism
responsible for the absorption of thermal energy from the sun. One of these mechanisms is
Thermal Radiation. This was the most complex to understand of the three. In light of modern
Physics and electromagnetic radiation theory, this flow of thermal energy is now understood
to be electromagnetic radiation from the infra-red and visible light sections of the spectrum.
The Stefan-Boltzmann law of radiation was the first successful model of the experimental
data obtained by heating a radiating blackbody and analysing the colour and thermal energy
flux at higher temperatures. This law describes a dependency upon energy per unit area of
output radiation on the 4
th
power of the objects temperature. Qualitatively warmer objects
emit more radiation with smaller wavelengths. This empirical relationship of P~T
4
was
investigated in this experiment by using an incandescent Tungsten filament lightbulb and
heating it by applying a higher current to it in successive steps, whilst analysing the voltage
(and hence Temperature of) a thermocouple stack referred to as a thermopile placed level to
the radiating bulb. It was found that the colour of the filament became whiter as its
temperature increased, and that in fact the output energy per unit area is related to the
filaments temperature to the power 4 by means of a plot of thermopile potential ( a measure
of its temperature) versus filament temperature converted via its resistance. Indeed the
Stefan Boltzmann Law of radiation is a good description of the radiative flow of heat from a
hot object to its surroundings.
PHY 263 Practical Experiment :
Stefan-Boltzmann Law of Radiation
ALISSA KRIEL
11123002
Practical performed on 18 October 2013
(Grop 2 ! "rida# $e$$ion%
Immediate Laborator# partner & S' (on)olo
Ot*er )rop member$ & +'L' ,acob$! K' -an .er Laar$e
The analysis of the power per unit area emitted by a
Tungsten filament as a function of filament temperature
to verify the 4
th
power relation of the Stefan-Boltzmann
Law of radiation

Introduction
The movement and flow of heat is a cardinally important thermodynamical process that is at
the same time a life-source for Earth and a property that can be used in many modern
applications of technology and industry. The heat from the sun provides the surface of the
earth with the necessary light and heat for nature to thrive. The important question is how
this heat travels through space to our atmosphere or generally how heat is transferred
between two bodies of differing temperature. ([4], p100)
There are three mechanisms whereby thermal energy is transferred between objects :
Conduction (by direct contact) , Convection (by means of a fluid medium around the objects)
and Thermal Radiation, the mechanism of interest in this practical investigation. ([1], p I-4)
The radiation of thermal energy has been a field of great interest and a source of great
confusion for many scientists over the years. It was found that an object that absorbed
thermal energy also emitted thermal energy. An ideal radiator of heat (and hence a total
absorber of heat) was labelled a Blackbody Radiator. Experimentally acquired data of
intensity of radiation from a heated body yielded spectral distribution graphs that could not
be accurately derived from theory in the 19
th
century.
An example of a failed theory for the shape of the spectral distribution graph is the Rayleigh-
Jeans formula that relies on classical physics theory. The formula somewhat approaches the
experimental data for long wavelengths of emitted radiation, but deviates badly for radiation
with shorter wavelengths. The experimental data basically showed that the maximum
irradiated lights wavelength tended to decrease as the temperature of the object was
increased, which Wiens displacement law describes. The second trend noted in the
experimental results is that the total power of radiation increased with increasing
temperature. This observation was accurately quantified by considering the power radiated
per unit area as a function of object Temperature This is the Stefan-Boltzmann Law of
radiation : ([2], p 96-100)
P = eoI
4
......................(1)
Planck further investigated functions that could describe the spectral distribution of radiation
due to temperature, assuming Maxwells electromagnetic wave theory. He came to the
conclusion that the electromagnetic thermal radiation particles can only have discrete
energies. Therefore, the heat energy must be radiated by EM waves, which we mostly
encounter as Infrared radiation.

In order to physically measure the thermal radiation given off by a Tungsten filament, it is
necessary to manipulate the equations of theory, whereafter the 4
th
power relation between
Irradiance per unit area and Temperature can be determined. This proportionality is valid for
the Non-Blackbody radiator filament since it has an absorption coefficient of less than one.
Plancks Law of radiation:
P(, I) =
2c
2
hx
-S
c
(
hc
Zkt
)
-1
.....................(2)
By integrating the above equation over all wavelengths, we obtain the Stefan-Boltzmann
Law:
P(I) =
2n
S
15
.
k
4
c
2
h
3
. I
4
............................(3),
where =
2n
S
15
.
k
4
c
2
h
3
= 5.67 x 10
-8
W.m
-2
.K
-4
The thermal energy flux which reaches a detector a fixed distance from the heated source is
proportional to P(T). As this thermal energy reaches a detector, which in our case is a
series of thermocouples whose potential difference reading indicates temperature of
the detector absorbing the thermal radiation, the potential difference, U
therm
is
proportional to the 4
th
power of the temperature of the heat source.
For the thermocouple pile detector at room temperature, a correction must be incorporated.
Finally, taking logarithms on both sides of the proportionality:
u
thcm
= constont. I
4
............................(4)
Thus, a straight line trend with a gradient of 4 will arise in a Logarithmic-Logarithmic plot if
the thermal radiation obeys the Law in (3):
logu
thcm
= logconstont + 4logI............................(5)
The Tungsten filament used in the incandescent lamp in this experiments temperature could
be determined by measuring its current at an applied potential difference after which its
Resistance could be calculated using Ohms Law. The resistance of the filament at 0
o
C is
given by: ([3], p 143)
R
o
=
R(t
R
)
1+u.t
R
+[.t
R
2
...................(6),
where t
R
denotes the room temperature in
o
C, and R(t
R
) is the filament resistance at room
temperature.
Finally, the temperature of the filament related to its measured resistance at any
Temperature T is :
I = 27S +
1
2[
. __o
2
+4[ [
R(1)
R
c
-1 -u]....................................(7)

Method:
In order to finally utilize equation (5), which is the double-logarithmic plot, we will firstly need
to measure the thermocouple stacks potential difference (U
therm
) at its exposure to the
heated filament at various intensities or equivalently powers of radiation. The brighter the
filament glows, by Wiens displacement law the hotter it is and thus the greater will be the
power with which it emits thermal radiation which the thermocouple stack will absorb to
increase its own temperature and thus U
therm
values.
These voltages are very small, and in order to record data that may be quantitatively
manipulated, an amplifier was connected between the thermopile and the voltmeter. Output
voltage readings of the order of 0.1 mV could be expected.
Before the bulb was placed nearby the sensor, The reading of the U
therm
voltmeter was
zeroed by means of adjusting the amplifier.
The thermopile sensor was placed approximately 29.5 cm away from the lamp, and level to
the light bulb. A DC power supply to the lamp was connected, along with an ammeter to
monitor applied current and a voltmeter to record Potential difference across the filament in
order to compute Resistance via Ohms Law.
To compute the filaments resistance at 0
o
C via Equation (6), Room temperature was
recorded and the resistance of the filament at room temperature was determined by
connecting a 100 resistor in series between the power supply and the filament, and
measuring the voltage across it at several supplied currents between 100mA and 200mA to
prevent heating of the filament which would of course change its resistance.
When this was complete, the resistor was removed, and the light bulb was supplied with
electricity at Voltages between 0.5 V and 7.0 V, several measurements of the current
through the bulb and the thermocouple stack Potential difference being made.
The corresponding Filament Temperature at each recorded step could now be computed
using equation (7).

Results:
Below follows a table containing several measured voltages and current of the W filament at
room temperature, as well as calculated resistances and an average resistance at room
temperature.
Another table containing the measured filament current, filament voltage and Thermopile
Potentials follows that, along with computed Reistance of the filament and corresponding
Temperatures of the Filament.
Using the applicable data, a Log-Log plot of Thermopile potential as a function of Filament
temperature is shown.

Table 1 : Measured values of current and Voltage over the Tungsten filament at room
Temperature 26
o
C
Applied Current I (mA)
1 mA
Voltage over Filament (V)
0.001 V
Computed Resistance*
() 0.01
100 0'023 0'23
12/ 0'020 0'23
1/0 0'031 0'23
12/ 0'010 0'23
200 0'013 0'23
The Resistance was computed via R =
v
I

Average Filament Resistance at 26
o
C :
R (t
R
) = 0.23 0.01
Thus, the filaments resistance at 0
o
C by equation (6):
R
o
=
u.2S0
1 +o. 26 +[. (26)
2

= 0.20 0.01


Table 2 : Measured Values of Filament Current, Filament Voltage and Thermopile
detector Potential U
therm
, and computed values of resistance and Temperature of
Filament
Applied
Voltage to
Filament (V)
0.001 V
Applied
Current to
Filament (A)
0.001 A
Resistance of
Filament *
() 0.01
Temperature
of Filament*
T ( K)
0.1 K

U
therm
(mV)
0.1 mv
1'2/2 1'8/2 0'38 200'/ 0'1
2'/01 2'202 0'03 030'3 0'2
3'100 3'022 1'03 1012'0 0'3
3'/38 3'280 1'08 1088'2 0'1
1'030 3'//2 1'11 1138'1 0'/
1'122 3'238 1'18 1120'0 0'3
1'810 3'020 1'21 1222'3 0'8
/'130 1'102 1'30 122/'2 0'0
/'0/ 1'130 1'31 1308'1 1'1
3'/3 1'331 1'11 1331'0 1'3
2'08 1'813 1'13 1103'0 1'/
Resistance was calculated by Ohms Law.
The Temperature of the Filament was calculated using equation (7). For the first line
in Table 2:

I = 27S +
1
2[
. _
_
o
2
+4[ _
u.68
u.2u
-1] -u_
= 700.5 0.1 K

The light bulb started by glowing a very faint red, and as the supply current
increased, and hence the resistance and Temperature of the filament, the colour of
the filament turned progressively brighter, through yellow to white, as predicted by
Wiens Displacement law.



y = 1E-13x
4.149
R = 0.951
0'1
1
10
1 10 100 1000 10000
U
T
h
e
r
m
(
m
V
)
T (K)
Graph 1 : Do!"e #o$ar%&hm%' (xe) p"o& o*
re'or+e+ Thermop%"e ,o"&a$e a) a *-'&%o- o*
.%"ame-& &empera&re
In Graph 1, we can see that the power trendline is of the form y = constant.x
4
when rounded.
By mathematical manipulation, one ends with equation (5) in the form:
logu
thcm
= log (1 1u
-13
) + 4.1SlogI. Hence the slope of this line is 4.15 _ 0.08 .
Discussion
It is seen in Table 1 and Table 2 that the Tungsten Filaments resistance increases with
increasing temperature, which is to be expected since metals behave in this way and
Tungsten is a metal. This increasing resistance/Temperature resulted in successively
brighter colour of the lamp filament, eventually reaching a bright white as very high
temperatures were reached.
The corresponding increase in Thermopile potential indicates that as the filament became
hotter, it radiated more heat which the thermopile absorbed and increased its own
Temperature by. The Resultant plot in Graph indicates that the heat radiated from the
filament is related to the 4
th
power of filament temperature. Thus, the warmer the light
filament became, the more thermal energy per unit area it radiated.
The thermopiles increase in temperature is due to the absorption of this heat.
The actual slope of the trendline in Graph 1 is 4.15 0.08. The exact theoretically expected
value from the Stefan Boltzmann Law is 4. Within error limits of 95% confidence level, the
experimentally acquired value of the slope is in agreement with the theory. The slight
deviation may be due to external interfering sources of heat influencing the temperature of
the thermopile, and skewing results, or due the fact that the filament is not an actual
Blackbody radiator which is the ideal emitter/absorber of radiation on which the model is
based. Instead, the filament is Grey body that approximates this behaviour.
This is a result that indicates that the Stefan-Boltzmann Law of Radiation is an accurate
model for the Heat flow via radiation from a heated object.
Conclusion
The experimental results agree with the answer expected were the Stefan-Boltzmann Law of
radiation accepted as true. The experimental results indicate that the thermal energy per unit
area radiated by a heated object is a function of its temperature to the power 4 as is the
empirical relationship in the aforementioned law. Adherence to this law implies that the
thermal radiation complies with the wave-particle duality of modern physics.

Thus, the warmer a body becomes, the more powerfully it emits radiation. As this thermal
radiation is principally Electromagnetic radiation which consists of photons, they may be
reflected, as light is off a mirror. Therefore, a shiny object can be anticipated to reflect a
good deal of incoming thermal radiation photons instead of absorbing them making a shiny
object less susceptible to absorbing thermal radiation (it is noted that conduction between
the shiny object and a warmer body is a different story, for example a polished tea kettle on
hot stove element which will most definitely become very warm). A blackened object will not
tend to absorb much of the thermal radiation photons, in contrast to a shiny one. And, as the
blackened object absorbs more heat, in order to remain in thermal equilibrium it must also be
an excellent emitter of thermal energy. Thus, this is why a blackened object will feel warmer
than a shiny object at the same temperature.
Thermal radiation may also explain why cloudy nights are warmer than clear ones. On
cloudy nights, the earth which radiates heat will emit radiation toward the sky. The clouds
can absorb some of this thermal energy, and also re-emit thermal energy. Thus, the escape
of thermal energy away from the ground is slowed somewhat. On clear evenings, the
thermal energy radiated by the earth will continue to move outward without being absorbed
closer to ground level, thus resulting in a continuous steady loss of thermal energy as no
sunlight re-heats the surface level- hence the cooler tinge in the air.



References:
[1] Janna W.S., 2009, Engineering Heat Transfer, Third edition, p.I-1 I-23, 11-1
11-31.
[2] Thornton S.T. & Rex A., 2013, Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 4
th

Edition, p. 96 100.
[3] PHYWE Physics laboratory experiments manual, 2008, p. 140-145
[4] Backman D, Seeds M.,2010, Horizons: Exploring the universe, 11
th
edition, p 99 -
101