Chapter II

DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

Emissivity is the ratio of radiation emitted by a surface and radiation emitted by a black

body at the same temperature. This experiment was done to determine the emissivity of different

surfaces of matt black plate, silver anodised plate and polished plate. The students prepared the

necessary equipment – radiation apparatus, matt black plate, silver anodized plate, polished plate,

and a digital thermometer to perform the experiment.

The radiation apparatus and the thermometers, used to measure the ambient temperature

of the surrounding and the temperature of the plates, were prepared in order for the students to

execute the said experimentation. Starting with setting-up the equipment, the radiometer sensor

was set at the 215 mm mark to have a 100-mm distance between the radiometer sensor and the

first plate to be used (designated as X) and a 50-mm distance from the heat source to the metal

plate (designated as Y). The power setting was set to 7.5 for each plate and since the students

performed only one trial per plate, there was no succeeding readings. After the initial settings of

the apparatus, the students recorded the temperature reading of air (Ta) ambient condition using

a thermometer, radiometer reading (R), and temperature (Ts) of the plate using a temperature

meter. The readings were recorded simultaneously. After recording the data of the first plate, the

students repeated the procedure for the other 2 plates. For this experiment, the sequence to be

followed are matte black plate then silver anodised plate, then lastly the polished plate.

In every trial, a maximum of 17 minutes for stabilization was allotted to gather correct

data; 15 minutes of stabilization for the initial start-up and every change in power setting, and 2
minutes of stabilization after removing the reflective disc on the radiometer. The students were

reminded that waiting for the temperature and radiometer reading for 15 minutes and another 2

minutes after they removed the reflective disc from the radiometer aperture is significant to

stabilize the reading for better accuracy and precision of the data gathered. Also, before moving

to a higher setting, the reflective disc is placed in the radiometer aperture to prevent heating

effects and zero drift.