Experiment 7: Blackbody Radiation

Stephen Nair, Reicedric Raguindin

Department of Math and Physics

College of Science, University of Santo Tomas
España, Manila Philippines

Abstract about by the failure of the Rayleigh Jeans

prediction also known as the ultra-violet
The experiment focused on the catastrophe.
Blackbody radiation spectrum. It showed
how a blackbody works by using a
spectrophotometer. Theory

In black body radiation, there are three

Introduction main formulae used which are Plank’s Law,
A black body is a theoretical Stefan-Boltzmann Law and Wein’s
idealization of an object that can perfectly Displacement Law.
absorb light and perfectly emit it back,
although there are no perfect blackbodies
there are objects that can be have close to Planks Law
the ideal. [1][2]
It is used to calculate the
Blackbody radiation is a class of spectral radiance of a certain blackbody.
thermal radiation that states any object that
is above the temperature of absolute zero 2 h c2 1
E ( λ , T )=
λ5 hc
has a thermal radiation. [1] This began with e λkT
−1
the study of William Herschel whom
performed an experiment where he found In which:
that temperature varies with the spectrum of
H= planks constant
light. [1] William Herschel found that
highest temperature was with the spectrum T= temperature in kelvins
below of the red which is the infrared. [1][2]
C= speed of light
In the 1900 Max Planck determined the
function of the ratio of emission and K= Boltzmann’s constant
absorption, it showed that the wavelength E= Energy
and the temperature are inversely related and
that extremely hot objects show radiation Stefan Boltzmann Law
that can be seen at the visible spectrum. [1][2]
Max Planck answered the problems brought
 It is used to determine to the
total power produced in a black body
radiation at certain temperatures.
E=σ T 4
σ =5.67 W m−2 K −4
T= Temperature
E=Energy
Wiens Displacement Law
Shows that the wavelength is
inversely proportional to the temperature as
a consequence of Planck’s radiation law.
b bulbs, banana plugs, a 750 universal
λ max=
T
In which:
b = proportionality constant
T = Temperature
λ max = Maximum Wavelength.
[2]
This graph shows the planks radiation
prediction that shows the dependence of
temperature with the wavelength and the
dependence of energy with temperature. As
the temperature increases the peak is moving
towards a shorter wavelength which is why
it is theorized that an object hotter than a
white hot object will turn invisible because
the wavelength at which it is radiating can
no longer be seen by the naked eye.
Methodology
Materials:
Prism spectrophotometer kit, optics bench,
spectrophotometer accessory kit, aperture
bracket, broad spectrum light sensor, rotary
motion sensor, voltage sensor, replacement
interface, and the program DataStudio
Figure 1: The setup front view
Figure 2: The setup aerial view
The setup required a Pasco blackbody
radiation setup, a power amplifier, a
universal interface, two pairs of banana
plugs, and a computer which can run the
DataStudio program.
The equipment had to be calibrated first
specifically the rotary motion sensor on the
spectrophotometer and the light sensor
attached to it. For the rotary motion sensor
to be used, it needs to be calibrated because
the sensor functions by using a pin which is
touching the degree plate on the
spectrophotometer. How to calibrate them
properly would be on the main manual. To
input data into the program, the pin on the
rotary motion sensor must have a ratio with
the degree plate and that’s why it needs to
be calibrated every time the experiment is
executed. To calibrate the light sensor it
needs to be tared every time a new data must
be recorded.
The experiment started by turning on the
bulb via the program then scanning the
spectrum.
The data needed can be shown using the
program DataStudio.
Results and Discussion
Equation1: Temp (K)
Equation2: Maximum wavelength
(Wien’s displacement law)
constant 0.002898 m⋅ K
λ max= =
T T
Equation3: Wavelength
Figure1: Error message for wavelength
Figure2: Voltage and Temperature
Voltage(V) Temperature(K)
4 1770.89
5 2194.18
6 2617.46
7 3040.74
Figure3: Maximum wavelength and
Temperature
Wavelength(nm) Temperature(K)
1636.47 1770.89
1320.77 2194.18
1107.18 2617.46
953.06 3040.74
In Figure3 although the broad spectrum was
not able to be observed the trend still agrees
with blackbody radiation, as the temperature
increases the wavelength also decreases.
This is because of how a blackbody
functions, a blackbody is a body mass
colored black because it needs to be a
perfect emitter meaning it absorbs every
wavelength striking it thus becoming black.
It should be noted that in Equation1 that the
0.84 value for the standard resistance of the
bulb has changed most likely due to the
oxidization of the metal inside because of
old age. The new value would be 1.25. The
recorded current also doesn’t match with the
programs value. The recorded current would
be 0.42 while the program records 0.10
amperes.
The wavelength digit display for the
DataStudio program seems to be
malfunctioning as shown in Equation3. Or
there is a problem with the equation itself.
Conclusion
The experiment although with a few
inadequacies did show how a blackbody
must work. The equipment was contributing
to the errors found during experimentation.
A blackbody showed how temperature and
wavelength relate to one another, as the
temperature increases the wavelength
decreases. This is the reason why as things
get hotter they go from red hot to white hot
because the wavelength at which they are
radiating gets shorter and shorter.
Questions
1. How does changing the temperature
of the bulb affect the wavelength or
light intensity? Do you notice a
pattern with increasing temperature?
By increasing the temperature, the
intensity increases. The peak
wavelength shifts to shorter
wavelengths at higher
temperatures.
2. From what you remember from the
lesson on the grating
spectrophotometer, what differences
have you observed between using a
prism and a grating? By using a
prism, the image is much clearer
and easier to use.
3. On a piece of paper, draw a diagram
showing the position of the reference
angle, measured angle and spectral
lines. Do the spectral lines converge
or diverge? Do the light rays
overlap? The spectral lines
converge at some point in front of
the sensor. After passing the
sensor the rays then diverge which
would mean that they won’t
overlap.
4. What would happen if you removed
the collimating lens? The lens
allows the rays to travel parallel
alongside each other before hitting
the prism. This can serve as a
reference point. By removing the
collimating lens the rays wouldn’t
be coherent.
5. What is the relationship between the
light’s angle, wavelength and
intensity? A wave’s angle is directly
related to its capacity to refract. If
the angle is large then that would
mean a bigger bend so to speak
thus resulting in a shorter
wavelength. For any given
temperature, there is an optimal
wavelength for reaching a
maximum light intensity.
6. What differences do you notice
between the black body and other
types of light sources you have used?
A blackbody unlike other light
sources relies solely on
temperature for its intensity.
7. Replace the infrared light sensor
with the high sensitivity light sensor.
What differences do you notice in
the graph displays? When a high
sensitivity sensor is used then
References
[1]
http://blackbodyradiation.weebly.com/histor
y.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-
body_radiation