The Stefan–Boltzmann law , also known as Stefan's law , describes the intensity of the thermal radiation emitted by matter in terms of that matter's temperature . It is named for Josef Stefan , who empirically derived the relationship, and Ludwig Boltzmann who derived the law theoretically.
117-570: For an ideal absorber/emitter or black body , the Stefan–Boltzmann law states that the total energy radiated per unit surface area per unit time (also known as the radiant exitance ) is directly proportional to the fourth power of the black body's temperature, T : M ∘ = σ T 4 . {\displaystyle M^{\circ }=\sigma \,T^{4}.} The constant of proportionality , σ {\displaystyle \sigma } ,
234-462: A 0 2 {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}4\pi R_{\oplus }^{2}\sigma T_{\oplus }^{4}&=\pi R_{\oplus }^{2}\times E_{\oplus }\\&=\pi R_{\oplus }^{2}\times {\frac {4\pi R_{\odot }^{2}\sigma T_{\odot }^{4}}{4\pi a_{0}^{2}}}\\\end{aligned}}} T ⊕ can then be found: T ⊕ 4 = R ⊙ 2 T ⊙ 4 4
351-847: A 0 2 T ⊕ = T ⊙ × R ⊙ 2 a 0 = 5780 K × 6.957 × 10 8 m 2 × 1.495 978 707 × 10 11 m ≈ 279 K {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}T_{\oplus }^{4}&={\frac {R_{\odot }^{2}T_{\odot }^{4}}{4a_{0}^{2}}}\\T_{\oplus }&=T_{\odot }\times {\sqrt {\frac {R_{\odot }}{2a_{0}}}}\\&=5780\;{\rm {K}}\times {\sqrt {6.957\times 10^{8}\;{\rm {m}} \over 2\times 1.495\ 978\ 707\times 10^{11}\;{\rm {m}}}}\\&\approx 279\;{\rm {K}}\end{aligned}}} where T ⊙
468-733: A when atmospheric humidity is low. Researchers have also evaluated the contribution of differing cloud types to atmospheric absorptivity and emissivity. These days, the detailed processes and complex properties of radiation transport through the atmosphere are evaluated by general circulation models using radiation transport codes and databases such as MODTRAN / HITRAN . Emission, absorption, and scattering are thereby simulated through both space and time. For many practical applications it may not be possible, economical or necessary to know all emissivity values locally. "Effective" or "bulk" values for an atmosphere or an entire planet may be used. These can be based upon remote observations (from
585-417: A "gray body" emissivity ε ≤ 1 ( P / A = εσT ). The rate of decrease of the temperature of the emitting body can be estimated from the power radiated and the body's heat capacity . This approach is a simplification that ignores details of the mechanisms behind heat redistribution (which may include changing composition, phase transitions or restructuring of the body) that occur within
702-448: A ) are more challenging than for land surfaces due in part to the atmosphere's multi-layered and more dynamic structure. Upper and lower limits have been measured and calculated for ε a in accordance with extreme yet realistic local conditions. At the upper limit, dense low cloud structures (consisting of liquid/ice aerosols and saturated water vapor) close the infrared transmission windows, yielding near to black body conditions with ε
819-433: A black body in thermal equilibrium with its environment is called black-body radiation . The name "black body" is given because it absorbs all colors of light. In contrast, a white body is one with a "rough surface that reflects all incident rays completely and uniformly in all directions." A black body in thermal equilibrium (that is, at a constant temperature) emits electromagnetic black-body radiation. The radiation
936-404: A black body, and electromagnetic radiation emitted from these bodies as black-body radiation . The figure shows a highly schematic cross-section to illustrate the idea. The photosphere of the star, where the emitted light is generated, is idealized as a layer within which the photons of light interact with the material in the photosphere and achieve a common temperature T that is maintained over
1053-464: A black body. Emissions are reduced by a factor ε {\displaystyle \varepsilon } , where the emissivity , ε {\displaystyle \varepsilon } , is a material property which, for most matter, satisfies 0 ≤ ε ≤ 1 {\displaystyle 0\leq \varepsilon \leq 1} . Emissivity can in general depend on wavelength , direction, and polarization . However,
1170-463: A black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that marks the point of no return . It is called "black" because it absorbs all the light that hits the horizon, reflecting nothing, making it almost an ideal black body (radiation with a wavelength equal to or larger than the diameter of the hole may not be absorbed, so black holes are not perfect black bodies). Physicists believe that to an outside observer, black holes have
1287-414: A black surface is a small hole in a cavity with walls that are opaque to radiation. Radiation incident on the hole will pass into the cavity, and is very unlikely to be re-emitted if the cavity is large. Lack of any re-emission, means that the hole is behaving like a perfect black surface. The hole is not quite a perfect black surface—in particular, if the wavelength of the incident radiation is greater than
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#17328546653701404-518: A body forms an interface with its surroundings, and this interface may be rough or smooth. A nonreflecting interface separating regions with different refractive indices must be rough, because the laws of reflection and refraction governed by the Fresnel equations for a smooth interface require a reflected ray when the refractive indices of the material and its surroundings differ. A few idealized types of behavior are given particular names: An opaque body
1521-534: A consequence, Kirchhoff's perfect black bodies that absorb all the radiation that falls on them cannot be realized in an infinitely thin surface layer, and impose conditions upon scattering of the light within the black body that are difficult to satisfy. A realization of a black body refers to a real world, physical embodiment. Here are a few. In 1898, Otto Lummer and Ferdinand Kurlbaum published an account of their cavity radiation source. Their design has been used largely unchanged for radiation measurements to
1638-539: A dilute gas. At temperatures below billions of Kelvin, direct photon–photon interactions are usually negligible compared to interactions with matter. Photons are an example of an interacting boson gas, and as described by the H-theorem , under very general conditions any interacting boson gas will approach thermal equilibrium. A body's behavior with regard to thermal radiation is characterized by its transmission τ , absorption α , and reflection ρ . The boundary of
1755-449: A formula for radiation energy density is: w e ∘ = 4 c M ∘ = 4 c σ T 4 , {\displaystyle w_{\mathrm {e} }^{\circ }={\frac {4}{c}}\,M^{\circ }={\frac {4}{c}}\,\sigma \,T^{4},} where c {\displaystyle c} is the speed of light. In 1864, John Tyndall presented measurements of
1872-474: A further proportionality factor to the Stefan-Boltzmann law , was thus implied and utilized in subsequent evaluations of the radiative behavior of grey bodies. For example, Svante Arrhenius applied the recent theoretical developments to his 1896 investigation of Earth's surface temperatures as calculated from the planet's radiative equilibrium with all of space. By 1900 Max Planck empirically derived
1989-451: A less obstructed atmospheric window spanning 8-13 μm. Values range about ε s =0.65-0.99, with lowest values typically limited to the most barren desert areas. Emissivities of most surface regions are above 0.9 due to the dominant influence of water; including oceans, land vegetation, and snow/ice. Globally averaged estimates for the hemispheric emissivity of Earth's surface are in the vicinity of ε s =0.95. Water also dominates
2106-413: A long period of time. Some photons escape and are emitted into space, but the energy they carry away is replaced by energy from within the star, so that the temperature of the photosphere is nearly steady. Changes in the core lead to changes in the supply of energy to the photosphere, but such changes are slow on the time scale of interest here. Assuming these circumstances can be realized, the outer layer of
2223-442: A lower emissivity, independent of frequency, is often referred to as a gray body. Constructing black bodies with an emissivity as close to 1 as possible remains a topic of current interest. In astronomy , the radiation from stars and planets is sometimes characterized in terms of an effective temperature , the temperature of a black body that would emit the same total flux of electromagnetic energy. Isaac Newton introduced
2340-417: A nearly ideal Planck spectrum at a temperature of about 2.7 K. It departs from the perfect isotropy of true black-body radiation by an observed anisotropy that varies with angle on the sky only to about one part in 100,000. The integration of Planck's law over all frequencies provides the total energy per unit of time per unit of surface area radiated by a black body maintained at a temperature T , and
2457-424: A non-zero temperature and emit black-body radiation , radiation with a nearly perfect black-body spectrum, ultimately evaporating . The mechanism for this emission is related to vacuum fluctuations in which a virtual pair of particles is separated by the gravity of the hole, one member being sucked into the hole, and the other being emitted. The energy distribution of emission is described by Planck's law with
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#17328546653702574-518: A particular wavelength , direction, and polarization . However, the most commonly used form of emissivity is the hemispherical total emissivity , which considers emissions as totaled over all wavelengths, directions, and polarizations, given a particular temperature. Some specific forms of emissivity are detailed below. Hemispherical emissivity of a surface, denoted ε , is defined as where Spectral hemispherical emissivity in frequency and spectral hemispherical emissivity in wavelength of
2691-481: A perfect emitter of radiation, a hot material with black body behavior would create an efficient infrared heater, particularly in space or in a vacuum where convective heating is unavailable. They are also useful in telescopes and cameras as anti-reflection surfaces to reduce stray light, and to gather information about objects in high-contrast areas (for example, observation of planets in orbit around their stars), where blackbody-like materials absorb light that comes from
2808-411: A room temperature of 25 °C (298 K; 77 °F). Objects have emissivities less than 1.0, and emit radiation at correspondingly lower rates. However, wavelength- and subwavelength-scale particles, metamaterials , and other nanostructures may have an emissivity greater than 1. Emissivities are important in a variety of contexts: In its most general form, emissivity can be specified for
2925-893: A small flat black body surface radiating out into a half-sphere. This derivation uses spherical coordinates , with θ as the zenith angle and φ as the azimuthal angle; and the small flat blackbody surface lies on the xy-plane, where θ = / 2 . The intensity of the light emitted from the blackbody surface is given by Planck's law , I ( ν , T ) = 2 h ν 3 c 2 1 e h ν / ( k T ) − 1 , {\displaystyle I(\nu ,T)={\frac {2h\nu ^{3}}{c^{2}}}{\frac {1}{e^{h\nu /(kT)}-1}},} where The quantity I ( ν , T ) A cos θ d ν d Ω {\displaystyle I(\nu ,T)~A\cos \theta ~d\nu ~d\Omega }
3042-438: A small flat surface. However, any differentiable surface can be approximated by a collection of small flat surfaces. So long as the geometry of the surface does not cause the blackbody to reabsorb its own radiation, the total energy radiated is just the sum of the energies radiated by each surface; and the total surface area is just the sum of the areas of each surface—so this law holds for all convex blackbodies, too, so long as
3159-747: A substitution, u = h ν k T d u = h k T d ν {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}u&={\frac {h\nu }{kT}}\\[6pt]du&={\frac {h}{kT}}\,d\nu \end{aligned}}} which gives: P A = 2 π h c 2 ( k T h ) 4 ∫ 0 ∞ u 3 e u − 1 d u . {\displaystyle {\frac {P}{A}}={\frac {2\pi h}{c^{2}}}\left({\frac {kT}{h}}\right)^{4}\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {u^{3}}{e^{u}-1}}\,du.} The integral on
3276-401: A surface, denoted ε ν and ε λ , respectively, are defined as where Directional emissivity of a surface, denoted ε Ω , is defined as where Spectral directional emissivity in frequency and spectral directional emissivity in wavelength of a surface, denoted ε ν,Ω and ε λ,Ω , respectively, are defined as where Hemispherical emissivity can also be expressed as
3393-506: A temperature T : where c is the speed of light , ℏ is the reduced Planck constant , k B is the Boltzmann constant , G is the gravitational constant and M is the mass of the black hole. These predictions have not yet been tested either observationally or experimentally. The Big Bang theory is based upon the cosmological principle , which states that on large scales the Universe
3510-423: A temperature of T = ( 1120 W/m 2 σ ) 1 / 4 ≈ 375 K {\displaystyle T=\left({\frac {1120{\text{ W/m}}^{2}}{\sigma }}\right)^{1/4}\approx 375{\text{ K}}} or 102 °C (216 °F). (Above the atmosphere, the result is even higher: 394 K (121 °C; 250 °F).) We can think of
3627-512: A weighted average of the directional spectral emissivities as described in textbooks on "radiative heat transfer". Emissivities ε can be measured using simple devices such as Leslie's cube in conjunction with a thermal radiation detector such as a thermopile or a bolometer . The apparatus compares the thermal radiation from a surface to be tested with the thermal radiation from a nearly ideal, black sample. The detectors are essentially black absorbers with very sensitive thermometers that record
Stefan–Boltzmann law - Misplaced Pages Continue
3744-458: A ≈1. At a lower limit, clear sky (cloud-free) conditions promote the largest opening of transmission windows. The more uniform concentration of long-lived trace greenhouse gases in combination with water vapor pressures of 0.25-20 mbar then yield minimum values in the range of ε a =0.55-0.8 (with ε=0.35-0.75 for a simulated water-vapor-only atmosphere). Carbon dioxide ( CO 2 ) and other greenhouse gases contribute about ε=0.2 to ε
3861-407: Is a direct consequence of Planck's law as formulated in 1900. The Stefan–Boltzmann constant, σ , is derived from other known physical constants : σ = 2 π 5 k 4 15 c 2 h 3 {\displaystyle \sigma ={\frac {2\pi ^{5}k^{4}}{15c^{2}h^{3}}}} where k is the Boltzmann constant ,
3978-415: Is a body for which the spectral emissivity is independent of wavelength, so that the total emissivity, ε {\displaystyle \varepsilon } , is a constant. In the more general (and realistic) case, the spectral emissivity depends on wavelength. The total emissivity, as applicable to the Stefan–Boltzmann law, may be calculated as a weighted average of the spectral emissivity, with
4095-431: Is a fair approximation to an ideal black body. With the exception of bare, polished metals, the appearance of a surface to the eye is not a good guide to emissivities near room temperature. For example, white paint absorbs very little visible light. However, at an infrared wavelength of 10×10 metre, paint absorbs light very well, and has a high emissivity. Similarly, pure water absorbs very little visible light, but water
4212-469: Is called the Stefan–Boltzmann constant . It has the value In the general case, the Stefan–Boltzmann law for radiant exitance takes the form: M = ε M ∘ = ε σ T 4 , {\displaystyle M=\varepsilon \,M^{\circ }=\varepsilon \,\sigma \,T^{4},} where ε {\displaystyle \varepsilon }
4329-407: Is determined by the composition and structure of its outer skin. In this context, the "skin" of a planet generally includes both its semi-transparent atmosphere and its non-gaseous surface. The resulting radiative emissions to space typically function as the primary cooling mechanism for these otherwise isolated bodies. The balance between all other incoming plus internal sources of energy versus
4446-447: Is emitted according to Planck's law , meaning that it has a spectrum that is determined by the temperature alone (see figure at right), not by the body's shape or composition. An ideal black body in thermal equilibrium has two main properties: Real materials emit energy at a fraction—called the emissivity —of black-body energy levels. By definition, a black body in thermal equilibrium has an emissivity ε = 1 . A source with
4563-407: Is generally used to describe a simple, homogeneous surface such as silver. Similar terms, emittance and thermal emittance , are used to describe thermal radiation measurements on complex surfaces such as insulation products. Emittance of a surface can be measured directly or indirectly from the emitted energy from that surface. In the direct radiometric method, the emitted energy from the sample
4680-446: Is given by E ⊕ = L ⊙ 4 π a 0 2 {\displaystyle E_{\oplus }={\frac {L_{\odot }}{4\pi a_{0}^{2}}}} The Earth has a radius of R ⊕ , and therefore has a cross-section of π R ⊕ 2 {\displaystyle \pi R_{\oplus }^{2}} . The radiant flux (i.e. solar power) absorbed by
4797-406: Is homogeneous and isotropic. According to theory, the Universe approximately a second after its formation was a near-ideal black body in thermal equilibrium at a temperature above 10 K. The temperature decreased as the Universe expanded and the matter and radiation in it cooled. The cosmic microwave background radiation observed today is "the most perfect black body ever measured in nature". It has
Stefan–Boltzmann law - Misplaced Pages Continue
4914-433: Is known as the Stefan–Boltzmann law : where σ is the Stefan–Boltzmann constant , σ ≈ 5.67 × 10 W⋅m ⋅K To remain in thermal equilibrium at constant temperature T , the black body must absorb or internally generate this amount of power P over the given area A . The cooling of a body due to thermal radiation is often approximated using the Stefan–Boltzmann law supplemented with
5031-414: Is measured directly using a spectroscope such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). In the indirect calorimetric method, the emitted energy from the sample is measured indirectly using a calorimeter. In addition to these two commonly applied methods, inexpensive emission measurement technique based on the principle of two-color pyrometry . The emissivity of a planet or other astronomical body
5148-416: Is nonetheless a strong infrared absorber and has a correspondingly high emissivity. Emittance (or emissive power) is the total amount of thermal energy emitted per unit area per unit time for all possible wavelengths. Emissivity of a body at a given temperature is the ratio of the total emissive power of a body to the total emissive power of a perfectly black body at that temperature. Following Planck's law ,
5265-400: Is one for which all incident radiation is reflected uniformly in all directions: τ = 0, α = 0, and ρ = 1. For a black body, τ = 0, α = 1, and ρ = 0. Planck offers a theoretical model for perfectly black bodies, which he noted do not exist in nature: besides their opaque interior, they have interfaces that are perfectly transmitting and non-reflective. Kirchhoff in 1860 introduced
5382-442: Is one that transmits none of the radiation that reaches it, although some may be reflected. That is, τ = 0 and α + ρ = 1. A transparent body is one that transmits all the radiation that reaches it. That is, τ = 1 and α = ρ = 0. A grey body is one where α , ρ and τ are constant for all wavelengths; this term also is used to mean a body for which α is temperature- and wavelength-independent. A white body
5499-678: Is the Gamma function ), giving the result that, for a perfect blackbody surface: M ∘ = σ T 4 , σ = 2 π 5 k 4 15 c 2 h 3 = π 2 k 4 60 ℏ 3 c 2 . {\displaystyle M^{\circ }=\sigma T^{4}~,~~\sigma ={\frac {2\pi ^{5}k^{4}}{15c^{2}h^{3}}}={\frac {\pi ^{2}k^{4}}{60\hbar ^{3}c^{2}}}.} Finally, this proof started out only considering
5616-567: Is the emissivity of the surface emitting the radiation. The emissivity is generally between zero and one. An emissivity of one corresponds to a black body. The radiant exitance (previously called radiant emittance ), M {\displaystyle M} , has dimensions of energy flux (energy per unit time per unit area), and the SI units of measure are joules per second per square metre (J⋅s⋅m), or equivalently, watts per square metre (W⋅m). The SI unit for absolute temperature , T ,
5733-490: Is the kelvin (K). To find the total power , P {\displaystyle P} , radiated from an object, multiply the radiant exitance by the object's surface area, A {\displaystyle A} : P = A ⋅ M = A ε σ T 4 . {\displaystyle P=A\cdot M=A\,\varepsilon \,\sigma \,T^{4}.} Matter that does not absorb all incident radiation emits less total energy than
5850-610: Is the luminosity , σ is the Stefan–Boltzmann constant, R is the stellar radius and T is the effective temperature . This formula can then be rearranged to calculate the temperature: T = L 4 π R 2 σ 4 {\displaystyle T={\sqrt[{4}]{\frac {L}{4\pi R^{2}\sigma }}}} or alternatively the radius: R = L 4 π σ T 4 {\displaystyle R={\sqrt {\frac {L}{4\pi \sigma T^{4}}}}} The same formulae can also be simplified to compute
5967-536: Is the power radiated by a surface of area A through a solid angle d Ω in the frequency range between ν and ν + dν . The Stefan–Boltzmann law gives the power emitted per unit area of the emitting body, P A = ∫ 0 ∞ I ( ν , T ) d ν ∫ cos θ d Ω {\displaystyle {\frac {P}{A}}=\int _{0}^{\infty }I(\nu ,T)\,d\nu \int \cos \theta \,d\Omega } Note that
SECTION 50
#17328546653706084-796: Is the solar radius , and so forth. They can also be rewritten in terms of the surface area A and radiant exitance M ∘ {\displaystyle M^{\circ }} : L = A M ∘ M ∘ = L A A = L M ∘ {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}L&=AM^{\circ }\\[1ex]M^{\circ }&={\frac {L}{A}}\\[1ex]A&={\frac {L}{M^{\circ }}}\end{aligned}}} where A = 4 π R 2 {\displaystyle A=4\pi R^{2}} and M ∘ = σ T 4 . {\displaystyle M^{\circ }=\sigma T^{4}.} With
6201-497: Is the effective emissivity of Earth as viewed from space and T s e ≡ [ S L R / σ ] 1 / 4 ≈ {\displaystyle T_{\mathrm {se} }\equiv \left[\mathrm {SLR} /\sigma \right]^{1/4}\approx } 289 K (16 °C; 61 °F) is the effective temperature of the surface. The concepts of emissivity and absorptivity, as properties of matter and radiation, appeared in
6318-460: Is the ratio of the thermal radiation from a surface to the radiation from an ideal black surface at the same temperature as given by the Stefan–Boltzmann law . (A comparison with Planck's law is used if one is concerned with particular wavelengths of thermal radiation.) The ratio varies from 0 to 1. The surface of a perfect black body (with an emissivity of 1) emits thermal radiation at the rate of approximately 448 watts per square metre (W/m ) at
6435-601: Is the temperature of the Sun, R ⊙ the radius of the Sun, and a 0 is the distance between the Earth and the Sun. This gives an effective temperature of 6 °C on the surface of the Earth, assuming that it perfectly absorbs all emission falling on it and has no atmosphere. The Earth has an albedo of 0.3, meaning that 30% of the solar radiation that hits the planet gets scattered back into space without absorption. The effect of albedo on temperature can be approximated by assuming that
6552-403: Is to ask what the temperature of a blackbody surface on the earth would be assuming that it reaches equilibrium with the sunlight falling on it. This of course depends on the angle of the sun on the surface and on how much air the sunlight has gone through. When the sun is at the zenith and the surface is horizontal, the irradiance can be as high as 1120 W/m. The Stefan–Boltzmann law then gives
6669-423: Is well-defined. (This is a trivial conclusion, since the emissivity, ε {\displaystyle \varepsilon } , is defined to be the quantity that makes this equation valid. What is non-trivial is the proposition that ε ≤ 1 {\displaystyle \varepsilon \leq 1} , which is a consequence of Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation .) A so-called grey body
6786-1120: The h is the Planck constant , and c is the speed of light in vacuum . As of the 2019 revision of the SI , which establishes exact fixed values for k , h , and c , the Stefan–Boltzmann constant is exactly: σ = [ 2 π 5 ( 1.380 649 × 10 − 23 ) 4 15 ( 2.997 924 58 × 10 8 ) 2 ( 6.626 070 15 × 10 − 34 ) 3 ] W m 2 ⋅ K 4 {\displaystyle \sigma =\left[{\frac {2\pi ^{5}\left(1.380\ 649\times 10^{-23}\right)^{4}}{15\left(2.997\ 924\ 58\times 10^{8}\right)^{2}\left(6.626\ 070\ 15\times 10^{-34}\right)^{3}}}\right]\,{\frac {\mathrm {W} }{\mathrm {m} ^{2}{\cdot }\mathrm {K} ^{4}}}} Thus, Prior to this,
6903-591: The Bulletins from the sessions of the Vienna Academy of Sciences. A derivation of the law from theoretical considerations was presented by Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906) in 1884, drawing upon the work of Adolfo Bartoli . Bartoli in 1876 had derived the existence of radiation pressure from the principles of thermodynamics . Following Bartoli, Boltzmann considered an ideal heat engine using electromagnetic radiation instead of an ideal gas as working matter. The law
7020-454: The Dulong–Petit law . Pouillet also took just half the value of the Sun's correct energy flux. The temperature of stars other than the Sun can be approximated using a similar means by treating the emitted energy as a black body radiation. So: L = 4 π R 2 σ T 4 {\displaystyle L=4\pi R^{2}\sigma T^{4}} where L
7137-460: The Sun has an effective temperature of 5780 K, which can be compared to the temperature of its photosphere (the region generating the light), which ranges from about 5000 K at its outer boundary with the chromosphere to about 9500 K at its inner boundary with the convection zone approximately 500 km (310 mi) deep. A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing escapes. Around
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#17328546653707254-514: The U-B index, which becomes more negative the hotter the star and the more the UV radiation. Assuming the Sun is a type G2 V star, its U-B index is +0.12. The two indices for two types of most common star sequences are compared in the figure (diagram) with the effective surface temperature of the stars if they were perfect black bodies. There is a rough correlation. For example, for a given B-V index measurement,
7371-661: The blackbody emission spectrum serving as the weighting function . It follows that if the spectral emissivity depends on wavelength then the total emissivity depends on the temperature, i.e., ε = ε ( T ) {\displaystyle \varepsilon =\varepsilon (T)} . However, if the dependence on wavelength is small, then the dependence on temperature will be small as well. Wavelength- and subwavelength-scale particles, metamaterials , and other nanostructures are not subject to ray-optical limits and may be designed to have an emissivity greater than 1. In national and international standards documents,
7488-435: The greenhouse effect , the Earth's actual average surface temperature is about 288 K (15 °C; 59 °F), which is higher than the 255 K (−18 °C; −1 °F) effective temperature, and even higher than the 279 K (6 °C; 43 °F) temperature that a black body would have. In the above discussion, we have assumed that the whole surface of the earth is at one temperature. Another interesting question
7605-421: The Earth is thus given by: Φ abs = π R ⊕ 2 × E ⊕ {\displaystyle \Phi _{\text{abs}}=\pi R_{\oplus }^{2}\times E_{\oplus }} Because the Stefan–Boltzmann law uses a fourth power, it has a stabilizing effect on the exchange and the flux emitted by Earth tends to be equal to the flux absorbed, close to
7722-459: The Stefan–Boltzmann law, astronomers can easily infer the radii of stars. The law is also met in the thermodynamics of black holes in so-called Hawking radiation . Similarly we can calculate the effective temperature of the Earth T ⊕ by equating the energy received from the Sun and the energy radiated by the Earth, under the black-body approximation (Earth's own production of energy being small enough to be negligible). The luminosity of
7839-458: The Sun is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere , so he took for the correct Sun's energy flux a value 3/2 times greater than Soret's value, namely 29 × 3/2 = 43.5. Precise measurements of atmospheric absorption were not made until 1888 and 1904. The temperature Stefan obtained was a median value of previous ones, 1950 °C and the absolute thermodynamic one 2200 K. As 2.57 = 43.5, it follows from
7956-428: The Sun, L ⊙ , is given by: L ⊙ = 4 π R ⊙ 2 σ T ⊙ 4 {\displaystyle L_{\odot }=4\pi R_{\odot }^{2}\sigma T_{\odot }^{4}} At Earth, this energy is passing through a sphere with a radius of a 0 , the distance between the Earth and the Sun, and the irradiance (received power per unit area)
8073-490: The body while it cools, and assumes that at each moment in time the body is characterized by a single temperature. It also ignores other possible complications, such as changes in the emissivity with temperature, and the role of other accompanying forms of energy emission, for example, emission of particles like neutrinos. If a hot emitting body is assumed to follow the Stefan–Boltzmann law and its power emission P and temperature T are known, this law can be used to estimate
8190-451: The cosine appears because black bodies are Lambertian (i.e. they obey Lambert's cosine law ), meaning that the intensity observed along the sphere will be the actual intensity times the cosine of the zenith angle. To derive the Stefan–Boltzmann law, we must integrate d Ω = sin θ d θ d φ {\textstyle d\Omega =\sin \theta \,d\theta \,d\varphi } over
8307-460: The curves of both most common sequences of star (the main sequence and the supergiants) lie below the corresponding black-body U-B index that includes the ultraviolet spectrum, showing that both groupings of star emit less ultraviolet light than a black body with the same B-V index. It is perhaps surprising that they fit a black body curve as well as they do, considering that stars have greatly different temperatures at different depths. For example,
8424-415: The detector's temperature rise when exposed to thermal radiation. For measuring room temperature emissivities, the detectors must absorb thermal radiation completely at infrared wavelengths near 10×10 metre. Visible light has a wavelength range of about 0.4–0.7×10 metre from violet to deep red. Emissivity measurements for many surfaces are compiled in many handbooks and texts. Some of these are listed in
8541-413: The diameter of the hole, part will be reflected. Similarly, even in perfect thermal equilibrium, the radiation inside a finite-sized cavity will not have an ideal Planck spectrum for wavelengths comparable to or larger than the size of the cavity. Suppose the cavity is held at a fixed temperature T and the radiation trapped inside the enclosure is at thermal equilibrium with the enclosure. The hole in
8658-470: The dimensions of the emitting object, because the total emitted power is proportional to the area of the emitting surface. In this way it was found that X-ray bursts observed by astronomers originated in neutron stars with a radius of about 10 km, rather than black holes as originally conjectured. An accurate estimate of size requires some knowledge of the emissivity, particularly its spectral and angular dependence. Emissivity The emissivity of
8775-443: The earth's surface as "trying" to reach equilibrium temperature during the day, but being cooled by the atmosphere, and "trying" to reach equilibrium with starlight and possibly moonlight at night, but being warmed by the atmosphere. The fact that the energy density of the box containing radiation is proportional to T 4 {\displaystyle T^{4}} can be derived using thermodynamics. This derivation uses
8892-409: The emissivity which appears in the non-directional form of the Stefan–Boltzmann law is the hemispherical total emissivity , which reflects emissions as totaled over all wavelengths, directions, and polarizations. The form of the Stefan–Boltzmann law that includes emissivity is applicable to all matter, provided that matter is in a state of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) so that its temperature
9009-438: The enclosure will allow some radiation to escape. If the hole is small, radiation passing in and out of the hole has negligible effect upon the equilibrium of the radiation inside the cavity. This escaping radiation will approximate black-body radiation that exhibits a distribution in energy characteristic of the temperature T and does not depend upon the properties of the cavity or the hole, at least for wavelengths smaller than
9126-459: The energy absorbed is multiplied by 0.7, but that the planet still radiates as a black body (the latter by definition of effective temperature , which is what we are calculating). This approximation reduces the temperature by a factor of 0.7, giving 255 K (−18 °C; −1 °F). The above temperature is Earth's as seen from space, not ground temperature but an average over all emitting bodies of Earth from surface to high altitude. Because of
9243-406: The energy density of radiation only depends on the temperature, therefore ( ∂ U ∂ V ) T = u ( ∂ V ∂ V ) T = u . {\displaystyle \left({\frac {\partial U}{\partial V}}\right)_{T}=u\left({\frac {\partial V}{\partial V}}\right)_{T}=u.} Now,
9360-417: The energy flux density from the Sun is 29 times greater than the energy flux density of a certain warmed metal lamella (a thin plate). A round lamella was placed at such a distance from the measuring device that it would be seen at the same angular diameter as the Sun. Soret estimated the temperature of the lamella to be approximately 1900 °C to 2000 °C. Stefan surmised that 1/3 of the energy flux from
9477-435: The equality is u = T ( ∂ p ∂ T ) V − p , {\displaystyle u=T\left({\frac {\partial p}{\partial T}}\right)_{V}-p,} after substitution of ( ∂ U ∂ V ) T . {\displaystyle \left({\frac {\partial U}{\partial V}}\right)_{T}.} Meanwhile,
9594-515: The equality), the partial derivative can be replaced by the ordinary derivative. After separating the differentials the equality becomes d u 4 u = d T T , {\displaystyle {\frac {du}{4u}}={\frac {dT}{T}},} which leads immediately to u = A T 4 {\displaystyle u=AT^{4}} , with A {\displaystyle A} as some constant of integration. The law can be derived by considering
9711-489: The factor 1/3 comes from the projection of the momentum transfer onto the normal to the wall of the container. Since the partial derivative ( ∂ u ∂ T ) V {\displaystyle \left({\frac {\partial u}{\partial T}}\right)_{V}} can be expressed as a relationship between only u {\displaystyle u} and T {\displaystyle T} (if one isolates it on one side of
9828-465: The following Maxwell relation : ( ∂ S ∂ V ) T = ( ∂ p ∂ T ) V . {\displaystyle \left({\frac {\partial S}{\partial V}}\right)_{T}=\left({\frac {\partial p}{\partial T}}\right)_{V}.} From the definition of energy density it follows that U = u V {\displaystyle U=uV} where
9945-677: The following expression, after dividing by d V {\displaystyle dV} and fixing T {\displaystyle T} : ( ∂ U ∂ V ) T = T ( ∂ S ∂ V ) T − p = T ( ∂ p ∂ T ) V − p . {\displaystyle \left({\frac {\partial U}{\partial V}}\right)_{T}=T\left({\frac {\partial S}{\partial V}}\right)_{T}-p=T\left({\frac {\partial p}{\partial T}}\right)_{V}-p.} The last equality comes from
10062-433: The following table. Notes: There is a fundamental relationship ( Gustav Kirchhoff 's 1859 law of thermal radiation) that equates the emissivity of a surface with its absorption of incident radiation (the " absorptivity " of a surface). Kirchhoff's law is rigorously applicable with regard to the spectral directional definitions of emissivity and absorptivity. The relationship explains why emissivities cannot exceed 1, since
10179-435: The ground or outer space) or defined according to the simplifications utilized by a particular model. For example, an effective global value of ε a ≈0.78 has been estimated from application of an idealized single-layer-atmosphere energy-balance model to Earth. The IPCC reports an outgoing thermal radiation flux (OLR) of 239 (237–242) W m and a surface thermal radiation flux (SLR) of 398 (395–400) W m , where
10296-1298: The half-sphere and integrate ν {\displaystyle \nu } from 0 to ∞. P A = ∫ 0 ∞ I ( ν , T ) d ν ∫ 0 2 π d φ ∫ 0 π / 2 cos θ sin θ d θ = π ∫ 0 ∞ I ( ν , T ) d ν {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\frac {P}{A}}&=\int _{0}^{\infty }I(\nu ,T)\,d\nu \int _{0}^{2\pi }\,d\varphi \int _{0}^{\pi /2}\cos \theta \sin \theta \,d\theta \\&=\pi \int _{0}^{\infty }I(\nu ,T)\,d\nu \end{aligned}}} Then we plug in for I : P A = 2 π h c 2 ∫ 0 ∞ ν 3 e h ν k T − 1 d ν {\displaystyle {\frac {P}{A}}={\frac {2\pi h}{c^{2}}}\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {\nu ^{3}}{e^{\frac {h\nu }{kT}}-1}}\,d\nu } To evaluate this integral, do
10413-400: The incoming light in the spectral range from the ultra-violet to the far-infrared regions. Other examples of nearly perfect black materials are super black , prepared by chemically etching a nickel – phosphorus alloy , vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays (like Vantablack ) and flower carbon nanostructures; all absorb 99.9% of light or more. A star or planet often is modeled as
10530-412: The infrared emission by a platinum filament and the corresponding color of the filament. The proportionality to the fourth power of the absolute temperature was deduced by Josef Stefan (1835–1893) in 1877 on the basis of Tyndall's experimental measurements, in the article Über die Beziehung zwischen der Wärmestrahlung und der Temperatur ( On the relationship between thermal radiation and temperature ) in
10647-427: The largest absorptivity—corresponding to complete absorption of all incident light by a truly black object—is also 1. Mirror-like, metallic surfaces that reflect light will thus have low emissivities, since the reflected light isn't absorbed. A polished silver surface has an emissivity of about 0.02 near room temperature. Black soot absorbs thermal radiation very well; it has an emissivity as large as 0.97, and hence soot
10764-535: The late-eighteenth thru mid-nineteenth century writings of Pierre Prévost , John Leslie , Balfour Stewart and others. In 1860, Gustav Kirchhoff published a mathematical description of their relationship under conditions of thermal equilibrium (i.e. Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation ). By 1884 the emissive power of a perfect blackbody was inferred by Josef Stefan using John Tyndall 's experimental measurements, and derived by Ludwig Boltzmann from fundamental statistical principles. Emissivity, defined as
10881-419: The law that the temperature of the Sun is 2.57 times greater than the temperature of the lamella, so Stefan got a value of 5430 °C or 5700 K. This was the first sensible value for the temperature of the Sun. Before this, values ranging from as low as 1800 °C to as high as 13 000 000 °C were claimed. The lower value of 1800 °C was determined by Claude Pouillet (1790–1868) in 1838 using
10998-828: The notion of a black body in his 1704 book Opticks , with query 6 of the book stating: Do not black Bodies conceive heat more easily from Light than those of other Colours do, by reason that the Light falling on them is not reflected outwards, but enters into the Bodies, and is often reflected and refracted within them, until it be stifled and lost? The idea of a black body originally was introduced by Gustav Kirchhoff in 1860 as follows: ...the supposition that bodies can be imagined which, for infinitely small thicknesses, completely absorb all incident rays, and neither reflect nor transmit any. I shall call such bodies perfectly black , or, more briefly, black bodies . A more modern definition drops
11115-747: The outgoing flow regulates planetary temperatures. For Earth, equilibrium skin temperatures range near the freezing point of water, 260±50 K (-13±50 °C, 8±90 °F). The most energetic emissions are thus within a band spanning about 4-50 μm as governed by Planck's law . Emissivities for the atmosphere and surface components are often quantified separately, and validated against satellite- and terrestrial-based observations as well as laboratory measurements. These emissivities serve as input parameters within some simpler meteorlogic and climatologic models. Earth's surface emissivities (ε s ) have been inferred with satellite-based instruments by directly observing surface thermal emissions at nadir through
11232-1197: The parameters relative to the Sun: L L ⊙ = ( R R ⊙ ) 2 ( T T ⊙ ) 4 T T ⊙ = ( L L ⊙ ) 1 / 4 ( R ⊙ R ) 1 / 2 R R ⊙ = ( T ⊙ T ) 2 ( L L ⊙ ) 1 / 2 {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\frac {L}{L_{\odot }}}&=\left({\frac {R}{R_{\odot }}}\right)^{2}\left({\frac {T}{T_{\odot }}}\right)^{4}\\[1ex]{\frac {T}{T_{\odot }}}&=\left({\frac {L}{L_{\odot }}}\right)^{1/4}\left({\frac {R_{\odot }}{R}}\right)^{1/2}\\[1ex]{\frac {R}{R_{\odot }}}&=\left({\frac {T_{\odot }}{T}}\right)^{2}\left({\frac {L}{L_{\odot }}}\right)^{1/2}\end{aligned}}} where R ⊙ {\displaystyle R_{\odot }}
11349-643: The parenthesized amounts indicate the 5-95% confidence intervals as of 2015. These values indicate that the atmosphere (with clouds included) reduces Earth's overall emissivity, relative to its surface emissions, by a factor of 239/398 ≈ 0.60. In other words, emissions to space are given by O L R = ϵ e f f σ T s e 4 {\displaystyle \mathrm {OLR} =\epsilon _{\mathrm {eff} }\,\sigma \,T_{se}^{4}} where ϵ e f f ≈ 0.6 {\displaystyle \epsilon _{\mathrm {eff} }\approx 0.6}
11466-466: The planet's atmospheric emissivity and absorptivity in the form of water vapor . Clouds, carbon dioxide, and other components make substantial additional contributions, especially where there are gaps in the water vapor absorption spectrum. Nitrogen ( N 2 ) and oxygen ( O 2 ) - the primary atmospheric components - interact less significantly with thermal radiation in the infrared band. Direct measurement of Earths atmospheric emissivities (ε
11583-594: The present day. It was a hole in the wall of a platinum box, divided by diaphragms, with its interior blackened with iron oxide. It was an important ingredient for the progressively improved measurements that led to the discovery of Planck's law. A version described in 1901 had its interior blackened with a mixture of chromium, nickel, and cobalt oxides. See also Hohlraum . There is interest in blackbody-like materials for camouflage and radar-absorbent materials for radar invisibility. They also have application as solar energy collectors, and infrared thermal detectors. As
11700-416: The pressure is the rate of momentum change per unit area. Since the momentum of a photon is the same as the energy divided by the speed of light, u = T 3 ( ∂ u ∂ T ) V − u 3 , {\displaystyle u={\frac {T}{3}}\left({\frac {\partial u}{\partial T}}\right)_{V}-{\frac {u}{3}},} where
11817-539: The reference to "infinitely small thicknesses": An ideal body is now defined, called a blackbody . A blackbody allows all incident radiation to pass into it (no reflected energy) and internally absorbs all the incident radiation (no energy transmitted through the body). This is true for radiation of all wavelengths and for all angles of incidence. Hence the blackbody is a perfect absorber for all incident radiation. This section describes some concepts developed in connection with black bodies. A widely used model of
11934-514: The relation between the radiation pressure p and the internal energy density u {\displaystyle u} , a relation that can be shown using the form of the electromagnetic stress–energy tensor . This relation is: p = u 3 . {\displaystyle p={\frac {u}{3}}.} Now, from the fundamental thermodynamic relation d U = T d S − p d V , {\displaystyle dU=T\,dS-p\,dV,} we obtain
12051-568: The right is standard and goes by many names: it is a particular case of a Bose–Einstein integral , the polylogarithm , or the Riemann zeta function ζ ( s ) {\displaystyle \zeta (s)} . The value of the integral is Γ ( 4 ) ζ ( 4 ) = π 4 15 {\displaystyle \Gamma (4)\zeta (4)={\frac {\pi ^{4}}{15}}} (where Γ ( s ) {\displaystyle \Gamma (s)}
12168-407: The same surface flux of energy as the star. If a star were a black body, the same effective temperature would result from any region of the spectrum. For example, comparisons in the B (blue) or V (visible) range lead to the so-called B-V color index , which increases the redder the star, with the Sun having an index of +0.648 ± 0.006. Combining the U (ultraviolet) and the B indices leads to
12285-521: The size of the hole. See the figure in the Introduction for the spectrum as a function of the frequency of the radiation, which is related to the energy of the radiation by the equation E = hf , with E = energy, h = Planck constant , f = frequency. At any given time the radiation in the cavity may not be in thermal equilibrium, but the second law of thermodynamics states that if left undisturbed it will eventually reach equilibrium, although
12402-421: The star is somewhat analogous to the example of an enclosure with a small hole in it, with the hole replaced by the limited transmission into space at the outside of the photosphere. With all these assumptions in place, the star emits black-body radiation at the temperature of the photosphere. Using this model the effective temperature of stars is estimated, defined as the temperature of a black body that yields
12519-447: The steady state where: 4 π R ⊕ 2 σ T ⊕ 4 = π R ⊕ 2 × E ⊕ = π R ⊕ 2 × 4 π R ⊙ 2 σ T ⊙ 4 4 π
12636-425: The surface has the same temperature throughout. The law extends to radiation from non-convex bodies by using the fact that the convex hull of a black body radiates as though it were itself a black body. Black body A black body or blackbody is an idealized physical body that absorbs all incident electromagnetic radiation , regardless of frequency or angle of incidence . The radiation emitted by
12753-476: The surface of a material is its effectiveness in emitting energy as thermal radiation . Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation that most commonly includes both visible radiation (light) and infrared radiation, which is not visible to human eyes. A portion of the thermal radiation from very hot objects (see photograph) is easily visible to the eye. The emissivity of a surface depends on its chemical composition and geometrical structure. Quantitatively, it
12870-553: The symbol M {\displaystyle M} is recommended to denote radiant exitance ; a superscript circle (°) indicates a term relate to a black body. (A subscript "e" is added when it is important to distinguish the energetic ( radiometric ) quantity radiant exitance , M e {\displaystyle M_{\mathrm {e} }} , from the analogous human vision ( photometric ) quantity, luminous exitance , denoted M v {\displaystyle M_{\mathrm {v} }} .) In common usage,
12987-685: The symbol used for radiant exitance (often called radiant emittance ) varies among different texts and in different fields. The Stefan–Boltzmann law may be expressed as a formula for radiance as a function of temperature. Radiance is measured in watts per square metre per steradian (W⋅m⋅sr). The Stefan–Boltzmann law for the radiance of a black body is: L Ω ∘ = M ∘ π = σ π T 4 . {\displaystyle L_{\Omega }^{\circ }={\frac {M^{\circ }}{\pi }}={\frac {\sigma }{\pi }}\,T^{4}.} The Stefan–Boltzmann law expressed as
13104-505: The theoretical concept of a perfect black body with a completely absorbing surface layer of infinitely small thickness, but Planck noted some severe restrictions upon this idea. Planck noted three requirements upon a black body: the body must (i) allow radiation to enter but not reflect; (ii) possess a minimum thickness adequate to absorb the incident radiation and prevent its re-emission; (iii) satisfy severe limitations upon scattering to prevent radiation from entering and bouncing back out. As
13221-456: The time it takes to do so may be very long. Typically, equilibrium is reached by continual absorption and emission of radiation by material in the cavity or its walls. Radiation entering the cavity will be " thermalized " by this mechanism: the energy will be redistributed until the ensemble of photons achieves a Planck distribution . The time taken for thermalization is much faster with condensed matter present than with rarefied matter such as
13338-400: The total energy radiated increases with temperature while the peak of the emission spectrum shifts to shorter wavelengths. The energy emitted at shorter wavelengths increases more rapidly with temperature. For example, an ideal blackbody in thermal equilibrium at 1,273 K (1,000 °C; 1,832 °F), will emit 97% of its energy at wavelengths below 14 μm . The term emissivity
13455-411: The value of σ {\displaystyle \sigma } was calculated from the measured value of the gas constant . The numerical value of the Stefan–Boltzmann constant is different in other systems of units, as shown in the table below. With his law, Stefan also determined the temperature of the Sun 's surface. He inferred from the data of Jacques-Louis Soret (1827–1890) that
13572-521: The wrong sources. It has long been known that a lamp-black coating will make a body nearly black. An improvement on lamp-black is found in manufactured carbon nanotubes . Nano-porous materials can achieve refractive indices nearly that of vacuum, in one case obtaining average reflectance of 0.045%. In 2009, a team of Japanese scientists created a material called nanoblack which is close to an ideal black body, based on vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes . This absorbs between 98% and 99% of
13689-402: Was almost immediately experimentally verified. Heinrich Weber in 1888 pointed out deviations at higher temperatures, but perfect accuracy within measurement uncertainties was confirmed up to temperatures of 1535 K by 1897. The law, including the theoretical prediction of the Stefan–Boltzmann constant as a function of the speed of light , the Boltzmann constant and the Planck constant ,
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