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IR, visible and UV components in the spectral distribution of blackbody

radiation

Article  in  Physics Education · December 1996

DOI: 10.1088/0031-9120/31/3/014

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Pushpendra K. Jain
University of Botswana
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 NErr APPROACHESI

andUVcomponents
lR,visible in the
of blackbody
distribution
spectral
radiation
K Jain University
Pushpendra Gqborone,
of Botswana,
Botswana

Thespectraldistributionof blackbody radiationis hasa maximumvalueof 47.5o/o at 7100K.At very

givenbythe Planckradiationlaw,andthe Stefan- high temperaturesuV contilbutes the largest
Boltzmann and Wiendisplacement lawsgivethe fraction to the radiant powerwith smaller,non'
total power and the maximum of the spectral zero fractionsof lR and visible radiation.At
distribution respectively. However, the certaintemperatures two of the threecomponents
contributions of each of the lR, visible and UV contributeequally to the radiant power.The
components to the total radiation is not found in analysishasimportantapplicationin medicaland
literature,althoughqualitativeinferences can be biophysics for UV protection from high
I madefromthe graphsof spectralirradiance given temperaturesystems.
by the Planckradiationlaw.Thisarticlepresents
the percentagemix of lR, visible and UV The blackbodyradiationlaws deal with two
componentsto the total radiant power of a distinctlydifferentphysical systemsat temperature
blackbodyas a functionof temperature. At low i! namelythe radiationfrom the surfaceof a
temperature the radiant power is nearly l00o/o lR blackbodyand photon gas (electromagnetic
and the contributions of UV and visible radiation)containedin an evacuated cavitywith
components are nearlyzero. As the temperature perfectly
reflecting walls.In bothcases the lawscan
increases, the percentageof the lR component beexpressed eitherin termsof frequencyor in terms
decreases, and the UV and visiblecomponents of wavelength. The laws for radiationfrom the
Thepercentage
increase. ofthe visiblecomponent surfaceof a blackbody and the photongas are

t49
II N r w A P P R o A c H E s

relatedto eachotherby a factorof c/4, wherec is lawfor radiation

fromthe surfaceof a blackbody
at
the speedof electromagneticradiation in vacuum, temperatureT. In terms of wavelengthand
andtransformationfromwavelength to frequencyis frequency it is givenby
respectively,
out byusingtherelations
carried (Jain1991)
2nhc2
cc dwx: d\ (2)
\:_
y
and d\:_ ,dv. (l) N exp(hc/|t kT) -l
v'
Withfourpossible casesof the blackbody radiation and
laws,differenttextbooksusevaryingnotations and 2rrh v-
1

terminology.In sometextbooks the differentcases dw": dv. (3)

are mixedup, causingsomeconfusion for the C exp(hv/k t) -1
students and teachers alike.To cite an example,
(1973)in discussing
The spectraldistribution of radiationgiven by
Baiser the blackbody radiation
equations (2)and(3)canbefoundin anystandard
from a bodyat temperature f employs radiation
textbook, but they shouldbe usedwith caution
formulae corresponding to the photongas in an
because dwt /dI\ and dW,/dv givethe rate of
evacuated cavity,derives
a wrongexpression for the
changeof powerwith), andv respectively irradiated
Stefan-Boltzmann constant:o : 8 ns k4/15c3h3,
perunitareaof the blackbody (Jain1991 ), andnot
but givesthe correctnumerical value:o : 5.67x
the powerperunit areaasa functionof }, andv as
i0-8 W m-2 K-0. Theexpression for the Stefan-
givenby Baiser stated by authorsof most textbooks,(Anderson
Boltzmann constant (1973)is in fact '1971,
Arya 1974,1979,Giancoli1984,Serway
the constant o' whichis involved in the Stefan-
1990).The spectral distributionhas a maximum
Boltzmann lawfor the photongasand is equalto
whichdepends on thetemperatureof the bodyand
7.561x l0-t6 J m-3 K-0. o'is related to o by
(t is givenby the Wiendisplacement law. Figures 1
(c/4)o' (Jain 1991).Jain (1991) also
and 2 show the position of the maximum of the
recommends corrected notations and terminology
Planckradiationlaw in termsof wavelength and
fortheblackbody radiationlaws.
frequency respectively
asa functionof temperature.
Fromthesegraphsit is to be notedthat the
The Planckand Wiendisplacementlaws maximumof the spectral distributionlies in the
Inthisarticle
weshalldealwiththePlanck
radiation visiblerange,in termsof wavelength(),, : 380 nm

760 nm
800

E 700
;
Y 600
o
a
(6 En.l
=
400

300 i 3820K

0 1 o.2 0.25
1oooiT(K)

Figurel. Themaximumof thespectroldistribution

of blackbody
radiationas a functionof l/T in termsof
wavelength.

t50
 NEw APPROACHESI

to )r, :'769 nm)for temperatures f : 3820 K to

7650 K,and in termsof frequenry (ur : 7.889x l5ofa r- .t' l5ora
YtuV--------T- , * -t q-------;-rUV
l0r4Hzlo v2:3.945 x l0t4Hz)fortemperatures r"
|
.rx,exp(x) r' "i6l
T : 6700K to 13400K.Thedifferenttemperature
wherex: h v/kT : h c/It k T;X, : h vv/kT :
ranges forthemaximum in termsof wavelengthand
h c / | , r k T ; X r : h v 1 / k T : h c / \ ' k I a n d\ ' , \ ,
frequency can only be explained with a proper
andv,, v, definethevisiblespectral range.Forthe
interpretationof the Planck law(Jainl99l ).
valuesof \', tr2orv,, v, givenabove, X, : 18932/T
andX.t : 37864/Twheref is the temperature in
Total, and l& visible and UV componentsof kelvin.The integralexpressions /,^,/u,,and /ru in
radiation (a) (6)
equations to respectively cannotbe evaluated
The total radiantpower!t/ from a blackbodyis analytically. Theyarecalculated numerically using
obtainedby integrating the Planckradiationlaw the software package -
Mathematica Version2.2
(equation(2) or (3)) overthe entirerangeof (1993). TheMathematica isa general mathematical
wavelength andis givenby the Stefan
or frequency, software for numerical and symbolic computations
-Boltzmann law:W: o7a. Likewise, the lR,visible and graphical applications (Wolfram1992).lt
and UVcomponents of radiation,W,, Wu,s andW* isfoundthat/,*+ /vrs + /uv: 6.49394- ra/15 is
are obtainedby integratingequation
respectively, independent of temperature f asshouldbethecase
(2) or (3) overthe corresponding rangeof the according to equations (a) to (6) andthe Stefan-
electromagnetic spectrum in termsof wavelength or Boltzmann law.Thisconfirms the accurary of the
frequency.Thus Mathematica softwarepackagein evaluatingthe
integrals.
l5oTa rx, t l5oTa The percentage contribution of eachof the three
vvL: -------T- Ci,r : ------l- rra
I ,* to total radiantpoweris obtainedfrom
Js exp(x)_ | 1r- components
(4) , I,o
:
lR(o/o) Xt0O : -5 xtog
/rR+/vrs+ /uv Ir
15oTa rx, f l5ofa : (tvs/lr\x1O0
VIS(o/o) (7)
vtvts-------7-- | u---.7rvs
exp(x,_ |
Jx, * .E-
n-
irf u v ( %:)( t u , / t ) x 1 0 0 .

T7
u,J
;^
N
r
>6
C
o
l

E4
L

radiationasa functionof T in termsof

Figure2. Themoximumof thespectraldistributionof blockbody
frequency.

t5r
I New APPRoAcHEs
I

Table1 givesthe valuesof the integrals /,*,/r, and followingcanbeconcluded

fromfigure3:
/r* andthe percentage contribution of the eachof (i) At lowtemperature thetotal radiationis
the threecomponents for T :500 K to 16000 K. .|00%
virtually lRwiththecontributions of
Thepercentage contributions of lR,visibleand UV visible
andUValmostequalto zero.
components to total radiant power areshownas a
(ii) At veryhightemperature UVcontributes the
functionof temperature in figure 3. The highest
largestfraction andthe lR
to totalradiation,
temperature of 16000K shownin thisfigureis a
andvisiblecontributionsbecome smaller, but
superhigh temperature that is not practicable on
not zero.
Earth. lt is onlywith theoretical interestthat this
high temperature is used here to analysethe (iii) Thecontributionof thevisiblecomponent has
variationof lR, visibleand UV radiationwith a maximum of 47.5o/o
at 7.|00K.
temperaturein the blackbodyspectrum,The It mustbe emphasized
herethat the maximum
of

Tablel. Numericalvaluesof the integrals (a)to (6),andpercentage

in equations contributions
of lR,visibleandUV
componentsto the blackbody radiation
fortemperatures500 K to l6 000 K.
r (K) /,, /u's /w lRo/o VlSo/o UYo/o

500 6.49394 x lO-e

3.143 5.846x 10-28 lOO.0oO 4.840x l0-8 9.002x lo-2e
1000 6.49389 4.786x lo-s 2 . 1 1 x5 l 0 - r 2 99.999 7.367x lO-4 x lo-rr
3.25g
'1.977
1500 6.48545 8.486x lO-3 x lO-7 99.869 0.131 3.045x l0-6
2000 6.40257 0.09132 4.786x lo-s 98.593 1.406 7.400x lo-4
2500 6 . 1 5 56 6 0.337l5 x lo-3
1.126 94.791 5.192 0.017
3000 5.74020 0.745
25 8.486x l0-3 88.393 11.476 0.131
3500 46
5.218 1.241
66 0.03382 80.359 19.120 0.521
4000 4.66107 1.741
50 0.09137 71.776 26.817 1.407
4500 4.11720 2.185
02 0.19172 63.401 33.647 2.952
s000 3 . 6 1 43 9 2.s4128 0.33278 ss.70s 39.166 5.129
6000 2.77037 2.96983 0.7s374 42.661 45.732 I r.607
7000 2.13342 3.08504 1.27548 32.852 47.506 19.641
'r.832
8000 1 . 6 6 0r 9 3.00088 87 25.56s 46.210 28.224
9000 1 . 3 0 87 9 2.80842 2.37674 20.154 43.247 36.599
10000 1.04494 2.56945 2.87955 16.091 39.s67 44.342
11000 0.84576 2.319
37 3.3288r 13.024 35.716 51.260
12000 0 . 6 9 31 7 2.07772 3.72357 10.673 3r.992 57.335
13000 0.s8199 r.8469l 4.06s04 8.962 28.440 62.597
r4000 0.47983 1.653
59 4.36052 7.389 25.464 67.147
'15000
0.40528 1.472
76 4.61590 6.241 22.679 7r.080
16000 0.34s03 1 . 3 1l 56 4.83375 5.313 20.252 74.435

7r00 2.078r5 3.0853l r.33048 32.0 47.5 20.5

s800 2.9il 96 '10.0

2.92198 0.66000 45.0 45.0
7800 1.74290 3.02949 1.72r
55 27.0 46.0 27.0
95s0 '18.0
Ll5387 2.681
l9 2.65887 41.0 41.0

t52
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 NEw APPRoACHESI

Arya A.P 1979 lntroductory (New

CollegePhysics SerwayR A 1990 Physicsfor Scientis9and
YorkMacMillan)515.6 Engineerswith Modern Physics 3rd revised
BaiserA 1973 Concepts of ModernPhysics(Tokyo: edn(London:
international Saunders
College)540..|
McGraw-Hill)$9'8 systemfor doing
WoFramS 1992Mathematica:A
JainP K 1991On blackbody radiationPhys.
Educ. Mathematics 2ndedn(lllinois:Addison
byComputer
26 190-4 Wesley)
.|984
Giancoli D C GeneralPhysia vol. ll
Englewood Cliffs,NJ:Prentice-Hall)
$40.1
\ Mathematica- Version2.2 A systemfor doing
. Mathematicsbycomputer(USA:WolframResearch,
Inc.)

r55
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