PLANCK'S LAW OF RADIATION FORMS

Planck’s law of radiation describes the radiation emitted by black bodies. However, there are different
forms of representation of this law of radiation.These differences are mainly due to the different
quantities that are considered.Furthermore, these quantities can be considered either as a function of
the wavelength or the frequency of the radiation.

Forms of the Planck's law of radiation

Distribution of spectral intensity as a function of wavelength

In this form of representation, the term intensity means a surface power density. The intensity thus
indicates the radiant power of the black body, which it emits per unit area. Using the illustrative
example of a light bulb, this would mean that for the calculation of its intensity, the radiant power is
divided by the surface area of the light bulb. With a radiant power of 50 watts and a surface area of 100
cm², this would result in a radiation intensity of 0.5 W/cm² (“0.5 watts per square centimeter”).

Such an indication of the intensity does not, however, allow any statement as to whether the radiation
emitted contains short wavelengths or long wavelengths. For our light bulb this would mean that no
statement can yet be made on the basis of the intensity whether the light bulb emits its power more in
the short-wave range and thus appears bluish or shines more strongly in the long-wave range and thus
shines reddish.

In order to be able to examine the distribution of the wavelengths, the entire wavelength spectrum
would first have to be divided into many small intervals. These wavelength intervals would then have to
be examined separately from each other for their respective power. With the help of filters, such
wavelength intervals could be separated from other wavelengths. The intensity with which the
wavelength interval under consideration is present in the emitted radiation would then be determined
by dividing the measured power by the size of the surface of the radiating body.

In this case, however, the measured power or intensity still depends decisively on the size of the chosen
wavelength interval. To put it simply, this means: If you choose a wavelength interval twice as large,
then twice as many wavelengths pass the filter and therefore twice as much power is measured (at least
if the intervals are chosen very small). Therefore the measured power or intensity is related to the
chosen wavelength interval! In this way one gets a constant intensity independent of the width of the
wavelength interval. Such an intensity per unit wavelength interval ist finally called spectral intensity.

This spectral intensity is finally shown as a function of wavelength in the diagram. In this form of
representation, the area under the curve corresponds to the radiated intensity in the wavelength range
under consideration.
To determine the total intensity I with which the black body radiates, the spectral intensity I(λ) must
therefore be integrated with respect to the entire wavelength spectrum from zero to infinity (total area
under the curve):

The intensity refers to the power per unit area. The total radiant power P of the black body is finally
obtained by integrating the intensity over the entire surface A of the black body:

If the black body emits radiation that is evenly distributed over its surface (isotropic black body), the
intensity is equal at every point on the surface. In this case, the total radiated power is simply the
product of intensity I and surface area of the black body A:

P=IxA radiant power of a black body

Distribution of spectral intensity as a function of frequency

Since wavelength λ and frequency f are related by the speed of propagation c (λ=c/f), Planck’s law of
radiation can also be expressed as a function of frequency. However, the wavelength λ must not simply
be replaced by the expression c/f. This has to do with the fact that the spectral intensity is a quantity
related to the wavelength. Therefore, one also has to convert the wavelength intervals dλ into
corresponding frequency intervals df!

Only the radiated intensities are really comparable, but not the spectral intensities. The emitted
intensity dI(λ) in a wavelength range between λ and λ+dλ is calculated by the product of the spectral
intensity dI(λ) and the wavelength interval dλ (“area under the graph”):

The wavelength interval dλ must therefore be assigned

a corresponding frequency interval df. This is done by
deriving the function f=c/λ with respect to the variable
λ:
The negative sign in equation above merely expresses that an increase of frequency by df>0 results in a
decrease of wavelength by dλ<0. At this point, however, only the magnitudes of the intervals are
relevant, so that the negative sign can be omitted. Taking equation (6) into account, one obtains:

For the conversion from

the wavelength form to the frequency form of the spectral distribution the following relationship
applies:

Distribution of the specific spectral intensity (spectral flux)

To experimentally determine the emitted spectral intensity of a surface element of a black body, the
emitted radiation within a considered wavelength interval would have to be measured with a detector.
In the article Blackbody radiation the realization of a blackbody by means of an opening leading into a
cavity has already been described in detail. In this case, the surface element to be examined would
correspond to the area of the opening, which completely absorbs incident radiation and thereby emits
blackbody radiation itself (also called cavity radiation). The radiation propagates spherically into the
half-space

 Influence on the measured radiant power: The ” direction of view”

For the measurement of the emitted radiant power, however, it is not sufficient to place the
detector somewhere in a fixed position where only a part of the radiation is detected. One has
to detect the radiation around the whole half space to actually measure the total radiant power.
However, the radiant power of the surface element (here: area of the opening) is not the same
in all directions! Thus, one cannot assume that the power measured with the detector at one
place is the same at another place.
 Everyday experience already shows that the radiant power of a (flat) surface element is
dependent on direction. Imagine a large glowing metal plate. If you look at this plate frontally,
you will perceive a relatively strong thermal radiation (this thermal radiation is part of blackbody
radiation!) The radiant power is therefore relatively high when looking at the plate from the
front. If you look at the glowing plate from the side, however, the thermal radiation appears less
intense. This means that the radiant power is lower. This can be explained by the fact that the
plate appears much smaller when viewed from the side and thus has a less effective radiating
surface. Obviously, the area appearing in the viewing direction, the so-called projected area, has
an influence on the perceived or measured radiant power.
The projected area can be clearly illustrated by imagining the detector as a “flashlight”. The
shadow that the illuminated surface element then creates on a screen placed behind it
corresponds to the projected area.
 Influence on the measured radiant power: The solid angle
On the one hand, the direction in which the the detector is pointing is therefore relevant for the
measured radiation power and on the other hand, of course, the area the detector occupies (its
“field of view”, so to speak). The latter is expressed by the so-called solid angle. A solid angle Ω is
defined by the ratio of an area on a sphere A to the square of the radius of the sphere r²:

The solid angle can be understood

analogously to the radian. In two-
dimensional space, the radian is the
ratio of the length of an arc to the
radius of the circle. In three-
 dimensional space, the solid angle is the ratio of a segment of the sphere to the square of the
radius of the sphere.
If a segment includes the entire sphere surface with an area of 4π ⋅r², then a solid angle of 4π is
obtained. The angle occupies the entire space of the sphere, so to speak. If the area is only half
the entire sphere surface, the solid angle is 2π. For such an solid angle of 2π, the detector would
just cover the entire half-space of radiation and detect the entire radiant power of the surface
element. The detector would also have to be hemispherical.

 Spectral intensity per solid angle (spectral flux)

If one examines the emitted radiant power of the opening of the cavity acting as a blackbody
with a detector, then one observes two things:
1. the measured radiant power dP is proportional to the area projected in the direction the
detector is pointing dAp,
2. the measured radiant power dP is proportional to the solid angle dΩ the detector covers (as
long as small solid angles are considered).
Point (1) has already been explained: the larger the radiating surface facing the detector, the
greater the power. Point (2) can also be clearly understood. If two very small detectors are
placed directly next to each other, they both register the same power. If one takes both
detectors together in thought, which then take up twice the solid angle, then one obviously
receives twice the power. Strictly speaking, this applies only as long as the two solid angles are
very small and the surface segments are close together, so that they do not differ in the
direction of pointing. Otherwise, according to point (1), one of the detectors would measure a
slightly different radiant power.
Furthermore, the measured radiant power is of course dependent on the size of the wavelength
interval dλ, which the filter of the detector allows to pass. A wavelength interval twice as large
means that twice as much radiation passes through the filter. The measured power is therefore
twice as large. This proportionality between power and wavelength interval only applies to very
small wavelength intervals. For a given wavelength range between λ and λ+dλ, the above
relationships can be mathematically represented as follows:

Spectral flux is the radiant power of a projected surface element per unit of solid angle and per
unit of wavelength interval

Distribution of the spectral energy density of cavity radiation

The spectral flux makes it possible to draw conclusions about the so-called spectral energy density us of
cavity radiation. Spectral energy density means the radiant energy contained in the volume of the cavity
per unit wavelength interval.

For this we again look at a hollow object with a tiny hole. All radiation coming in through the opening is
absorbed by the inner walls with every reflection until after a few reflections all radiation is absorbed.
The hole is by definition a blackbody that absorbs all incident radiation. However, depending on the
temperature of the cavity, the inner walls themselves emit radiation. In thermodynamic equilibrium, the
walls absorb as much radiant energy as they absorb, so that neither further heating nor cooling of the
cavity or body occurs.

The radiant energy or energy density present in such a cavity can be determined from the blackbody
radiation emitted through the opening.

At any solid angle dΩ radiation is emitted from the projected area dAp. The photons moving at the
speed of light c cover the distance dl within the time dt:

dl = c•dt

Within the time dt the photons thus occupy the following volume dV:

dV = dAp • dl = dAp • c • dt

The radiant energy dU in the wavelength interval dλ, which is contained in the emitted radiation, can be
determined by the spectral flux Bs and the time interval dt

The energy density in this form still depends on the wavelength interval and the solid angle. Therefore,
the energy density is usually expressed as spectral energy density us, i.e. as energy density per unit
wavelength interval. Furthermore, in the case of a volume element, it makes no sense to relate the
energy density to a solid angle. After all, the entire volume element is considered with its energy
density. Therefore the energy density must be related to the “entire volume”, i.e. to a full sphere with a
solid angle of dΩ=4π:
 The total energy density inside the
cavity of a black body would finally be
obtained by integrating these
equations over the entire wavelength
or frequency range from zero to
infinity. This total energy density is
only dependent on temperature and is
spatially constant throughout the
cavity. If the energy density would
differ in two points, then more energy would be contained in one volume element than in the other. The
volume element with the higher energy density would radiate “more” than the other. However, the
photon gas or the entire cavity would then not be in thermodynamic equilibrium.

The energy density inside the cavity of a hollow black body depends only on the temperature!