Principles of Modern Physis

Vaasa University of Applied Sciences

Laboratory of Physics

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THERMAL RADIATION
An object at any temperature above 0 Kelvins is known to emit radiation, referred to as
thermal thermal radiation. The characteristics of this radiation depend on the temperature
and the properties of the radiating surface. At low temperatures, the wavelengths of the
thermal radiation are mainly in the infrared region -. / 700 nm 1 mm3 and hence are not
observed by the human eye. As the temperature of the object is increased, it eventually begins
to glow red. At sufficiently high temperatures, it appears to be white, as in the glow of the hot
tungsten filament of a light bulb. A careful study of thermal radiation shows that it consists of
a continuous distribution of wavelengths from the infrared, visible and ultraviolet portions of
the spectrum.
In the figure below, the intensity of thermal radiation emitted by a black body -an ideal object
that absorbs all radiation incident on it3 is given as a function of the wavelength of the
radiation at three different temperatures. As can be seen, the total power of thermal radiation
emitted by the body corresponding to the physical area under the curve increases very fast
with increasing temperature.

.<m
.max
References: Sections 20.7 and 40.1 in Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern
Physics by Raymond A. Serway and John W. Jewett, Jr.

1. Introduction
With increasing temperatures, the peak of the distribution -.max 3 shifts to shorter
wavelengths according to Wiens displacement law:
.max =

2.898 10CD mK
F

-13

The intensity of thermal radiation emitted by a surface is proportional to the fourth power of
its absolute temperature, according to Stefan-Boltzmann law:
J = KLF M

-23

Here L = 5.67 10CP WQ 2 4 is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, K is the absorptivity of the

m K
surface and F is its absolute temperature. The value of K can vary between 0 and 1, depending
on the properties of the surface.
According to the intensitys definition, the intensity of thermal radiation emitted by a point
source is inversely proportional to the squared distance from the source, because at a given
distance S, the radiated power has distributed over a spherical surface of area 4TS U :
J=

V
4TS U

-33

2. Radiation From Different Surfaces

Study the absorptivities of the four different surfaces of the thermal radiation cube by
measuring the relative intensity of radiation emitted by the surfaces at a common
temperature. Use K = 1 for the black mat surface, and calculate the absorptivities of the other
three surfaces relative to this.

Connect a millivoltmeter to the radiation sensor.

Turn on the thermal radiation cube and set the power switch to HIGH. Wait for about ten
minutes, and turn the power switch to 5.0.
After about five minutes, the cube reaches thermal equilibrium, and you can use the
radiation sensor to measure the radiation emitted from each of the four surfaces of the
cube. Place the sensor so that the posts on its end are in contact with the cube surface.
When using radiation sensor, always shield it from the hot object except for the few
seconds it takes to actually make the measurement. This prevents heating of the
thermopile, which will change the reference temperature and alter the reading.

Calculate the normalised absorptivities of the four surfaces, using K = 1 for the black one.

Study the absorption properties of a window glass:

Place the radiation sensor approximately 5 cm from the black surface of the radiation cube
and record the reading.
Place a piece of window glass between the sensor and the black surface and record the
reading. Does the window glass effectively block thermal radiation? Do the same with a
piece of flat transparent plastic, too.

3. The Inverse Square Law

Set up the equipment as shown in Fig. 1, and study how the intensity of thermal radiation
emitted by the Stefan-Boltzmann lamp varies with distance.

Tape a metre stick to the table, and place the Stefan-Boltzmann lamp at one end of the
stick so that you can use the stick in measuring the distance between the filament of the
lamp and the radiation sensor.
Adjust the height of the sensor so that it is at the same level as the filament, and make the
axis of the sensor align with that of the lamp.

Fig. 1

The equipment set-up for measuring the inverse square law.

Turn on the power supply to illuminate the lamp. Set the voltage to approximately 12 V.
Record the reading of the millivoltmeter at 10 cm intervals. Make each reading quickly.
Between readings, place the reflective heat shield between the lamp and the sensor, so
that the temperature of the sensor stays relatively constant.

Make a graph of radiation level versus distance, i.e. J vs. S. Further, plot the logarithm of the
intensity vs. the logarithm of the distance, i.e. log J vs. log S. Fit a straight line to this plot, and
solve the slope. Can you explain the results by considering the Stefan-Boltzmann lamp as a
point source of radiation -Eq. 33?

4. StefanStefan-Boltzmann Law
According to Eq. -23, the intensity of thermal radiation emitted by a surface is proportional to
the fourth power of its Kelvin temperature. This result can be verified by the following
measurements:

Measure the resistance of the Stefan-Boltzmann lamp's tungsten filament at room

temperature, ]D^^ .
Set up the equipment as shown in figure 2.

Fig. 2 The equipment setup for the Stefan-Boltzmann law experiment.

Turn on the power supply, and set the voltage to 1.0 V. Record the value of the current and
the voltage on the millivoltmeter. Set the voltage to 2.0 V and repeat the measurement, do
the same with 3.0 V, 4.0 V, ..., 12.0 V. Between measurements, place a heat insulator
between the lamp and the sensor.
Calculate the resistance of the filament at each of the voltage settings, ]_ , corresponding to
the temperature of the filament, F. Calculate the ratio of this resistance to ]D^^ , and use the
Temperature versus Resistivity for Tungsten table -on the next page3 to determine the
temperature of the tungsten filament.

Make a graph of radiation level versus temperature, i.e. J vs. F. Further, plot the logarithm
of the intensity vs. the logarithm of the temperature, i.e. log J vs. log S. Fit a straight line to
this plot, and solve the slope. Can you explain the results with the theory given the
instructions -Eq. 23?