MadSci Network: Physics |
A hot, glowing object obeys two fundamental radiation laws. Wein's Law and the Stefan-Boltzman Law. The S-B law relates the energy emitted by a radiating body through the equation E = (sigma) T^4, where E is the energy flux and T the temperature and sigma is the S-B constant. When you increase the temperature (i.e. increase the voltage on a light) the amount of radiation emitted goes up as the fourth power of temperature, so the intensity increases greatly making the colors more brilliant. An object at 2000 Kelvin puts out 16X more radiation than one at 1000 Kelvin. Wein's Law relates the wavelength of maximum intensity as a function of temperature. When you observe the increased brilliance of the colors does the peak brightness shift from red to red-orange to yellow? It should. Try these links for more information (in order of increasing complexity) one two three
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