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Physics Lesson 19.1.4 - Stefan-Boltzmann Law

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Welcome to our Physics lesson on Stefan-Boltzmann Law, this is the fourth lesson of our suite of physics lessons covering the topic of Thermal Radiation. Photon as the Quantum of Light, you can find links to the other lessons within this tutorial and access additional physics learning resources below this lesson.

Stefan-Boltzmann Law

This law expresses the relationship between the total emissivity of a black body and its temperature. It says:

"Total emissivity of a black body is proportional to the fourth power of absolute temperature."

Mathematically, we write:

E = σ ∙ T4

where σ = 5.67 × 10-8 J/K4m2s is a constant; it is known as the Stefan-Boltzmann constant.

Example 1

Calculate the power of radiation emitted by the window of an oven which has an area of 200 cm2. The oven is at 15230 C and its window is considered as a black body.

Solution 1

Clues:

A = 200 cm2 = 0.02 m2 = 2 × 10-2 m2
T = 1523° C = (1523 + 273) K = 1800 K = 1.8 × 103 K
(σ = 5.67 × 10-8 J/(K4m2s)
P = ?

Since the unit of total emissivity E is [J/s·m2] or [W/m2], we obtain

E = P/A = σ ∙ T4

Thus, the power of radiation emitted by the oven is

P = σ ∙ T4 ∙ A
= (5.67×10-8 W/m2 ∙ K4) ∙ (1.8 × 103 K)4 ∙ (2 × 10-2 m2 )
= 1.19 × 104 W
= 11.9 kW

You have reached the end of Physics lesson 19.1.4 Stefan-Boltzmann Law. There are 6 lessons in this physics tutorial covering Thermal Radiation. Photon as the Quantum of Light, you can access all the lessons from this tutorial below.

More Thermal Radiation. Photon as the Quantum of Light Lessons and Learning Resources

Modern Physics Learning Material
Tutorial IDPhysics Tutorial TitleTutorialVideo
Tutorial
Revision
Notes
Revision
Questions
19.1Thermal Radiation. Photon as the Quantum of Light
Lesson IDPhysics Lesson TitleLessonVideo
Lesson
19.1.1What is Thermal Radiation?
19.1.2Total and Spectral Emissivity
19.1.3Radiation of a Black Body
19.1.4Stefan-Boltzmann Law
19.1.5Wien's Law
19.1.6The Ultraviolet Catastrophe and Planck's Hypothesis

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