STEFAN’S LAW

Jeptha H Lalawmpuia
VI-Semester, B.Sc. (H) Physics
St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi

March 24, 2022

 0.1. Aim

0.1 Aim
To verify the Stefan’s Law of radiation.

0.2 Apparatus
• Ammeter

• Voltmeter
• Variable DC source
• Incandescent Bulb with Tungsten filament
• Connecting wires

0.3 Working Formula

Stefan’s Law: The power radiated per unit area of the surface of a perfectly black body is directly proportional
to the fourth power of its absolute temperature.

P = σAT 4 (1)

where, σ = the Stefan’s constant;

A = the area of the body;
T = the absolute temperature of the body.

For an imperfect black body, we have to multiply the R.H.S of the equation(1) by epsilon, which denotes
the emissivity, the ratio of the power radiated per unit area by that body to that of a perfect black body.

P = ϵσAT 4 (2)

We would rewrite the equation(2) in a form suitable for this experiment by taking log of both sides. So, we
get:
log P = 4 log T + C(constant) (3)
This equation is of the form, y = mx + c. To verify Stefan’s law, the slope of the graph between log P and
log T should be equal to 4.

0.4 Observations
• Least count of the Voltmeter: 0.5V
• Least count of the Ammeter: 2mA

On the next page, we have shown the data obtained and the calculation of other parameters. To find out
the value of R 0, we have taken the average of the resistance data and then divided it by 3.9.
Ravg
R 0= = 45.12Ω
3.9
For getting the temperature data, we should have some prior readings of resistance variation w.r.t to temper-
ature. Then, we can draw a calibration curve and get the temperature readings corresponding to resistance
values. We can then plot the graph between ln(P ) and ln(T ) to verify the Stefan’s law.

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 0.5. Calculations

Figure 1: Data for getting the calibration curve.

Figure 2: Calibration Curve.

0.5 Calculations
On plotting ln(P ) along the y-axis and ln(T ) along the x-axis, we got the curve shown in Figure 3. We have
linearly fit the data and the best fit line have the equation, y = 4.91x + 0.0793. From the graph, we can see
that the data at high temperature is deviated from the best fit line. This implies that at higher temperature
ranges the data is not reliable. So, we have redrawn the best fit line using initial points and got the graph
shown in Figure 4. This time the best fit line has a slope value of 4.1, which is near to 4.

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 0.6. Result

Voltage(V) I inc(mA) I dec(mA) I avg(mA) R(ohms) R/R 0 Temperature(K) P = VI (W) ln(T) ln(P)
2.5 24 24 24 104.17 2.31 525.216 0.06 0.000 0.000
3 28 28 28 107.14 2.37 535.449 0.084 0.019 0.336
3.5 30 30 30 116.67 2.59 572.867 0.105 0.087 0.560
4 32 32 32 125.00 2.77 603.366 0.128 0.139 0.758
4.5 34 34 34 132.35 2.93 630.386 0.153 0.183 0.936
5 36 36 36 138.89 3.08 655.639 0.18 0.222 1.099
5.5 38 38 38 144.74 3.21 677.464 0.209 0.255 1.248
6 40 40 40 150.00 3.32 695.887 0.24 0.281 1.386
6.5 42 42 42 154.76 3.43 714.268 0.273 0.307 1.515
7 44 44 44 159.09 3.53 730.941 0.308 0.331 1.636
7.5 46 46 46 163.04 3.61 744.255 0.345 0.349 1.749
8 48 48 48 166.67 3.69 757.546 0.384 0.366 1.856
8.5 50 50 50 170.00 3.77 770.815 0.425 0.384 1.958
9 52 52 52 173.08 3.84 782.407 0.468 0.399 2.054
9.5 54 54 54 175.93 3.9 792.328 0.513 0.411 2.146
10 56 56 56 178.57 3.96 802.237 0.56 0.424 2.234
10.5 58 56 57 184.21 4.08 822.016 0.5985 0.448 2.300
11 58 58 58 189.66 4.2 841.743 0.638 0.472 2.364
11.5 60 60 60 191.67 4.25 849.947 0.69 0.481 2.442
12 62 62 62 193.55 4.29 856.504 0.744 0.489 2.518
12.5 64 62 63 198.41 4.4 874.504 0.7875 0.510 2.575
13 64 64 64 203.13 4.5 890.829 0.832 0.528 2.629
13.5 66 66 66 204.55 4.53 895.719 0.891 0.534 2.698
14 68 68 68 205.88 4.56 900.606 0.952 0.539 2.764
14.5 70 70 70 207.14 4.59 905.49 1.015 0.545 2.828
15 70 70 70 214.29 4.75 931.478 1.05 0.573 2.862
15.5 72 72 72 215.28 4.77 934.72 1.116 0.576 2.923
16 74 74 74 216.22 4.79 937.96 1.184 0.580 2.982
16.5 74 74 74 222.97 4.94 962.214 1.221 0.605 3.013
17 76 76 76 223.68 4.96 965.441 1.292 0.609 3.070
17.5 78 78 78 224.36 4.97 967.054 1.365 0.610 3.125

Table 1: Observation table

0.6 Result
We have verified the Stefan’s law for the power radiated by a tungsten filament bulb.

0.7 Discussion
We can apply Stefan’s law to a wide variety of situation. We can use it to calculate the temperature of a
star as well as the temperature of a bulb.

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 0.7. Discussion

Figure 3: Calibration Curve 1.

Figure 4: Calibration Curve 2.