ChE 34: Chemical Engineering Laboratory 1

ACTIVITY #5:
Radiation Experiments: Stefan-Boltzmann Law and Inverse Square Law
of Heat

Group # 1: Date Performed: January 25, 2018

Writer: Villamar, Hazel Ann C. (2013001557) Date Submitted: January 28, 2018
Co-worker: Ali, Hanah Nasifa M. (20130003835) Instructor: Engr. Shierlyn S. Paclijan
Ching, Lorraine Ann A. (2013000828)
Mabao, Michael Alex S. (2013002572)
ABSTRACT

The objectives of this experiment are mainly to determine the relationship of the
intensity of radiation to the source of temperature and the relationship of the intensity
of the radiation from the distance of the surface near the radiation source. Thermal
radiation is a mode of heat transfer done to anything that will allow radiation to pass.
Thermal radiation set-up was done in this experiment where a radiometer was set in
variety of distances from the heat source. And black plate was placed near the heat
source on the second half of the experiment with certain distance and with its varying
temperature that was recorded.

INTRODUCTION

Radiation is a mode of heat transfer done by electromagnetic radiation Thermal

radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation; it obeys same laws as light, it travels
in straight lines and can be transmitted through space and vacuum, and so on[1]. This
mode of heat transfer is very significant where large temperature differences occur.
There were two experiments done in this namely the Inverse Square Law of Heat and
The Stefan-Boltzmann Law. Any point source which spreads its influence equally in
all directions without a limit to its range obeys the inverse square law[2]. The
Stefan-Bolztan law describes the power radiated from a black body in terms of
varying temperatures. It states that the total energy radiated per unit are of a black
body across all wavelengths per unit time.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Thermal radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation similar to X-rays, light

waves, gamma rays and so on, differing only in wavelength. It obeys the same laws
as light: It travels in straight lines, can be transmitted through space and vacuum, and
so on. It is an important mode of heat transfer and is especially important where large
temperature differences occur; for example, in a furnace with boiler tubes, in radiant
dryers or in an oven baking food. Radiation often occurs in combination with
conduction and convection. The mechanism of radiant heat transfer is composed of
three steps – a) the thermal energy of a hot source, such as the wall of a furnace at
T1, is converted into energy in the form of electromagnetic-radiation waves b) these
waves travel through the intervening space in straight lines and strike a cold object at
T2, such as a furnace tube containing water to be heated c) the electromagnetic
waves that strike the body are absorbed by the body and converted back to thermal
energy or heat.

When thermal radiation falls upon a body, part is absorbed by the body in the
form of heat, part is reflected back into space and part may actually be transmitted
through the body. For most cases in process engineering, bodies are opaque to
transmission, so this will be neglected. Hence, for opaque bodies,

α + ρ = 1.0 (Equation 1)

where α is absorptivity or fraction absorbed and ρ is reflectivity or fraction reflected.

A black body is defined as one that absorbs all radiant energy and reflects
none. Hence, ρ = 0 and α = 1.0 for a black body. Actually, in practice there are no
perfect black bodies, but a close approximation is a small hole in a hollow body, as
shown in Figure 1.
 Figure 1. Concept of a Perfect Body

The inside surface of the hollow body is blackened by charcoal. The radiation
enters the hole and impinges on the rear wall; part is absorbed there and part is
reflected in all directions. The reflected rays impinge again, part is absorbed, and the
process continues. Hence, essentially all of the energy entering is absorbed and the
area of the hole acts as a perfect black body. The surface of the inside wall is “rough”
and rays are scattered in all directions, unlike a mirror, where they are reflected at a
definite angle. As stated previously, a black body absorbs all radiant energy falling on
it and reflects none. Such a black body also emits radiation, depending on its
temperature, and does not reflect any. The ratio of the emissive power of a surface to
that of a black body is called emissivity, ε and is 1.0 for a black body.

The basic equation for heat transfer by radiation from a perfect black body
follows the Stefan-Boltzman Law. The Stefan-Boltzmann Law gives the total energy
being emitted at all wavelengths by the blackbody (which is the area under the
Planck Law curve). The equation for solving the heat flux in black body with an
emissivity, ε = 1.0 is:

 4
q   Ts  TA
4
 (Equation 2)

where q is heat flux in W , σ is the Stefan-Boltzman constant 5.676 x 10-8 in

m2
W , TS is source temperature of radiometer and surroundings in K and TA is
m2
temperature of radiometer and surroundings in K.

Another way of solving the heat flux for heat transfer by radiation is through the
relationship of q and radiometer reading, R. This radiometer reading is read through a
digital meter. The digital meter indicates the intensity of the radiation received by the
radiometer and not the radiation emitted by the appropriate heated surface. It can be
proved mathematically that the relationship between radiation received and radiation
emitted is:

R = q sin2θ (Equation 3)

Where R is the radiometer reading in W , q is the energy emitted by the heated

m2
surface in W and θ is the half angle of the radiometer window.
m2

1
However, in this experiment, is given and it is 11.07. Thus,
sin 2 
 q = 11.07 x R (Equation 4)

Another radiation heat law is the Inverse Square Law of Heat. In physics, an
inverse-square law is any physical law stating that a specified physical quantity or
intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source of that
physical quantity. Translating the definition into an equation, it will be:

(Equation 5)

The mechanism of inverse square law is represented in the Figure 2. The lines
represent the flux emanating from the source. The total number of flux lines depends
on the strength of the source and is constant with increasing distance. A greater
density of flux lines means a stronger field. The density of flux lines is inversely
proportional to the square of the distance from the source because the surface area
of a sphere increases with the square of the radius. Thus the strength of the field is
inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source.

Figure 2. Representation of the Inverse Square Law of Heat

Usually to verify the inverse square relationship between distance and radiation
intensity is to scheme a log-log plot of radiometer reading against distance.
Theoretically, the graph will result in a straight line with a slope of negative 2. Figure 3
shows the theoretical log-log plot of radiometer reading against distance.

Figure 3. Theoretical Log-log Plot of Radiometer reading vs. Distance

PROCEDURE

A. Inverse Square Law of Heat

The experiment was firstly done by setting up the equipment to be used.

The power control was then set into mid-position and then its temperature
were waited until it gets into stable before the beginning of the experiment
was done. The distance then was set with 65mm allowance from the center
line. The distance was varied every after two minutes. Then, the radiometer
reading and the distance of the heat source were recorded with varying
distance every after two minutes. The experiment was done for two trials.

B. Stefan-Boltzmann Law

For this second half of the experiment, the power control on the
instrument was set to maximum. And then a certain distance was set all
throughout the experiment. The distance from the radiometer to the black
plate is 200mm and the distance from the black plate to heat source is 50mm.
The temperature and the radiometer reading at ambient condition were
recorded.
Figure 1. Schematic Diagram of the Procedure
A. Inverse Square Law of Heat B. Stefan-Boltzmann Law
RESULTS

Table 1. Average Inverse Square Law of Heat

LogX(Distance) 2.903 2.875 2.845 2.813 2.778 2.740 2.698 2.667 2.602
LogR(Radiomet -0.769 -0.710 -0.657 -0.629 -0.569 -0.509 -0.438 -0.393 -0.297
er Reading)

Figure 1. log R vs log X

Table 2. Average Stefan-Boltzmann’s Law

T, ˚C R, Ts, K Ta,K qb=11.07X qb= th %differenc
⩗ R, ⩗ t tt t ⩗ t e
73 49.5 346.15 298.15 547.965 365.7932 39.87308
75 80 348.15 298.15 885.6 384.7603 78.85001
77 125.5 350.15 298.15 1389.285 404.0572 109.8762
78 140 351.15 298.15 1549.8 413.8304 115.701
79 156.5 352.15 298.15 1732.455 423.6875 121.399

DISCUSSION OF THE RESULT

The objectives of this experiment to determine the relationship between the

radiation intensity and the temperature source and to determine also the relationship
between the radiation intensity and the surface distance from the radiation source by
using the Thermal Radiation Unit to observe the relationship between these variables.
The Stefan-Boltzmann Law and the Inverse Square Law of Heat are used to for this
experiment.

For the inverse square law of heat, can be observe from the table that as the
logarithm of the distance decreases, the logarithm of radiometer reading is increasing
because, in radiographic observation, the radiation expand as it moves away from
the gamma source or the X-ray source. This law means that the intensity of the
radiation becomes weaker as it travels far away from the X-ray source.[4] In the
experiment, it was performed inversely. As shown in Figure 1, the graphical
relationship of distance, X, and radiometer reading, R. Log-log graph is used to show
a linear relationship between the two variables, and it was observed that a negative
slope was attained.

The Stefan-Bolztmann’s Law values obtained is shown in Table 2. It can be

observed from the table that as the temperature increases the energy radiated per
unit area of a black body per unit time also increases since the law stated that the
energy radiated by the black body is proportional to the fourth power of the absolute
temperature.[5] The energy radiated by the black body values are obtained in two
different ways. The first one used the radiometer reading attained in the experiment
multiplied by 11.07, this value was already discussed in theoretical background, while
the other one used the Stefan-Boltzmann’s constant with a value of 5.67 x 10-8 J s-1
m-2 K-4. Then a percent difference of the two obtained values are calculated.

The possible error occurred in this experiment was the number bias of the
researchers since the fluctuation of the radiometer reading and temperature was
moving fast. Also, the changing of the ambient temperature around the room that has
a little effect on the experiment that can be a factor with the error.

CONCLUSION

1. The calculation of the heat flux in the Stefan-Boltzmann Law experiment

employed a given view factor value of 11.07, which may not be accurate to use.
The half angle of the radiometer window which is theoretically used to determine
the view factor value was already preset by the laboratory technician, but may
not have been the same at the time of the group’s experiment session.
2. In the Stefan-Boltzmann Law experiment the emissivity used for a black body is
unity. However, the black plate used is not a perfect black body, therefore, its
actual emissivity value must be accounted for in the calculations.

RECOMMENDATION

1. The trend of the readings obtained showed that the intensity of radiation to the
source temperature is directly proportional; as the source temperature was
increased, the radiometer reading increased as well.
2. The mathematical form of the Stefan-Boltzmann Law states that the thermal
energy radiated by a black body per second per unit area is proportional to the
fourth power of the black body’s absolute temperature.
3. Using the Inverse Square Law of Heat, if the radiation strength (intensity) is
known at a specific point, then the intensity at any distance from the source may
be calculated.

LITERATURES CITED

[1] Geankoplis, C. (n.d.). Transport Processes and Separation Processes (4th ed.).
[2] Inverse Square Law, General. (n.d.). Retrieved January 25, 2018, from
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Forces/isq.html
[3] Welty,J.R. Fundamentals of Momentum, Heat, and Mass Transfer. 5th Ed. John
Wiley and Sons, Inc. 2007.
[4]Inverse Square Law. NDT Resource Center from
https://www.nde-ed.org/GeneralResources/Formula/RTFormula/InverseSquare/Inver
seSquareLaw.htm
[5]Stefan-Boltzmann Law. Revised october 10, 2010 from
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/intranet/pendulum/stefan/
APPENDICES

A.1 Raw Data

Trial 1
Distance X(mm) 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 465 400
Radiometer Reading R 0.17 0.20 0.21 0.23 0.27 0.31 0.36 0.40 0.50
(Wm2)

Trial 2
Distance X(mm) 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 465 400
Radiometer Reading R 0.17 0.19 0.23 0.24 0.27 0.31 0.37 0.41 0.51
(Wm2)

Trial 1
Temperature,˚ Radiometer Reading, Ts,K Ta, K
C Wm^3
73 49 346.15 298.15
75 79 348.15 298.15
77 122 350.15 298.15
78 138 351.15 298.15
79 158 352.15 298.15

Trial 2
Temperature,˚ Radiometer Reading, Ts,K Ta, K
C Wm^3
73 50 346.15 298.15
75 81 348.15 298.15
77 129 350.15 298.15
78 142 351.15 298.15
79 155 352.15 298.15

A.2 Sample Calculations

At 73 ˚C
Solving qb using the equation qb= 11.07R(ave)
qb=11.07(49.5)
qb= 547.965 ⩗ t
Solving qb using the equation qb= th tt
t t
qb= t t t tqt t
qb= 365.7932247 ⩗ t
h
% difference = th t
t
q q tt
% difference = q t q tt t
t
% difference = 39.87308678%