Physics 140

Lecture 2
Blackbody Radiation
Jan. 28, 2013

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 Announcements
1) The first homework assignment is posted on the course
web site. It is due in lecture on Wednesday February 6

2) By next lecture make sure that you have a registered iClicker.

3) If you didn’t receive an email from me last week, please let me

know by sending an email to physics.rutgers.140@gmail.com

4) The midterm and final exam schedules are posted on the course
website. Please let me know as soon as possible if you have any
conflicts.

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 Clicker Question
If a light bulb uses 100 W of electrical
power, how much electrical energy does
the light bulb use in one minute?

a) 6000 kW-hr
b) 60 J
c) 60 Cal
d) 6000 J
e) 100 J

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 Today’s Topics

Temperature
Blackbody Radiation
Temperature of the Earth

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Temperature

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 Thermal Energy
Thermal energy is the kinetic energy of molecules.
It is hidden because you can’t see molecules.
They are too small.

Thermal energy
= (number of molecules)
x (average molecular kinetic energy)

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Thermal Energy

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 Temperature

Temperature is a measure of the

kinetic energy of molecules.

The hotter something is the

faster its molecules are moving.

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 Temperature Scales
File:Thermometer CF.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wiki

File:Thermometer CF.svg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fahrenheit
• water boils at 212o
• water freezes at 32o

Centigrade (Celsius)
• water boils at 100o
• water freezes at 0o

Size of this preview: 345 × 600 pixels.

Full resolution (SVG file, nominally 1,150 × 2,000 pixels, file size: 41 KB)
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 Temperature Changes
Between the freezing point of water and
the boiling point of water there are:

100 degree Celsius 0o to 100o

180 degree Fahrenheit 32o to 232o

Change in temperature of 1.0 oC is

a change of temperature of 1.8 oF

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Absolute (Kelvin) Temperature Scale
Temperature indicates the average
kinetic energy of the molecules
Choose an absolute temperature scale in which T=0
means that the molecular kinetic energy is zero.

Zero temperature on this scale is

the coldest that anything can be.

This scale is the Kelvin scale. It’s easy to

convert between Kelvin and Celsius.

TK = TC + 273
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Temperature Scales

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 Temperature Changes
Between the freezing point of water and
the boiling point of water there are:

100 degree Celsius 0o to 100o

180 degree Fahrenheit 32o to 232o

Change in temperature of 1.0 oC is

a change of temperature of 1.8 oF

Change in temperature of 1.0 oC is also

a change of temperature of 1.0 K

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 Temperature Scales
Fahrenheit
• water boils at 212o
• water freezes at 32o

Centigrade (Celsius)
• water boils at 100o
• water freezes at 0o

Kelvin (Absolute)
• no molecular motion 0o
• water boils at 373o
• water freezes at 273o

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Temperature Conversions

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TC = (TF 32)
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TF = TC + 32
5

TK = TC + 273

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 Thermal Energy and Temperature
If the temperature is given on the Kelvin scale
then the average molecular kinetic energy is
proportional to the temperature.

The total thermal energy is the sum of the

kinetic energies of all of the molecules

Thermal energy
= (number of molecules) x (average molecular kinetic energy)
= k x (number of molecules) x (temperature)

T E = knT
constant of proportionality
16 Kelvin
 Thermal Velocities
At room temperature
T = 68 oF = 20 oC = 293 K

the average speed of the molecules

in a glass of water is

650 m/s = 1300 mi/hr

In a homework problem, you’ll use this to

find out how much thermal energy there is

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 Main Points about Temperature

Temperature on the Kelvin scale tells us

the average molecular kinetic energy.

The total thermal energy is proportional

to the temperature (in Kelvin) times the
number of molecules. T E = knT

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Blackbody Radiation

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Temperature of Rock in Space
What is the temperature of a
rock floating in space?

• Temperature of the universe

- 14 billion year ago, just after the Big
Bang, the universe was very hot
- it has been cooling ever since due to
the expansion of space
- the current temperature is about 3 Kelvin
• Thermal equilibrium
- objects in contact will eventually come
to the same temperature

The temperature of the rock would be 3 Kelvin

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 What is the Temperature of Earth
290px-The_Sun_by_the_Atmospheric_Imaging_Assembly_of... http://upload

The solar system is not in thermal

equilibrium with the universe

Why? The Sun.

The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17.jpg (JPEG Image, 3000 × 300... http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/The_Eart...

Electromagnetic energy radiated

by the Sun is incident on Earth
and heats it up.

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 Blackbody

A blackbody is an object that absorbs all

of the radiation that is incident on it.

The Sun is a blackbody!

It absorbs any light that shines on it.

A blackbody is only black when it is at

absolute zero.

At any non zero temperature it

will emit electromagnetic radiation

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 Emitted Power
The power emitted by a blackbody depends
only on two things:
the surface area (A) of the object and
the surface temperature (T) of the object.

P = AT 4

The power emitted depends on the

temperature to the fourth power

For example, if the temperature is doubled the

emitted power increases by a factor of 16

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 Power Emitted by the Sun
Radius of the Sun = 7 x 108 m

Surface temperature of the Sun = 5800 K

P = (4⇡R )T 2 4 = 5 ⇥ 10 8 2
W/m

Power emitted by Sun

= 4 x 1026 W
= 4 x 1014 TW

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 Energy Flux
Energy flux is the power per unit area.
It has units of Watts per square meter. W/m2

For a blackbody the emitted energy flux

depends only upon its temperature. It is
independent of the size of the blackbody

S= T 4

For the Sun with T = 5800 K,

the emitted energy flux is:

Ssun = 6.2 x 10 7 W/m 2

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 Solar Flux Incident on Earth
The power emitted by the Sun spreads out uniformly
The energy flux as a function of the
distance D from the Sun goes like 1/D2

At the distance that the Earth is

from the Sun the energy flux is 1360 W/m 2

If we take into account the Earth’s curvature

and the fact that only half of the Earth faces
the Sun the average flux over the surface of
the Earth is less by a factor of 1/4

340 W/m 2

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 Power Absorbed by Earth
The Earth doesn’t absorb all of the energy incident on
it. Because of water, snow, clouds etc., it reflects about
30% of the incident energy. This is called the albedo.

Taking the albedo into account the

power absorbed by the Earth is:

240 W/m 2

Does Earth just keep absorbing solar

power getting hotter and hotter?

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 Thermal Balance
The Earth radiates as a black body.

Searth = 4
Tearth
The Earth’s surface will come to a temperature
such that the power radiated by the Earth
equals the power absorbed from the Sun.

Searth = 240 W/m 2

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 Temperature of the Earth
2
Searth = 4
Tearth = 240 W/m
2
Ssun = 4
Tsun = 6.2 ⇥ 10 W/m7

✓ ◆1/4
Searth
Tearth = Tsun
Ssun

TEarth = 253 K = -4 oF

Actual average surface temperature is

60 oF. What is wrong?
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 Temperature of Mars
Mars is further from the Sun than the Earth and
receives about half as much flux from the Sun.

Using SMars = 110 W/m 2

TMars = 218 K = -67 oF

This is in excellent agreement

with the actual temperature

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 Temperature of Venus
Venus is closer to the Sun than the Earth and
receives about twice as much flux from the Sun.

Using Svenus = 480 W/m 2

TVenus = 305 K = 90 oF

Actual average surface temperature is 800 oF.

Why do we get it so wrong?

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 Atmosphere
Venus has an atmosphere that traps most of
the energy being radiated by the surface.
Only a small fraction, f, escapes.

The surface
greenhouse.gif (GIF Image, 770temperature,
× 517 pixels) therefore, is higher so that the
http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/tharriso/ast110/greenhouse.gif

power escaping equals the incoming power

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 Runaway Greenhouse Effect
Why is the atmosphere of Venus so absorbing?
The atmosphere of Venus is 100 times
more dense than that of the Earth.

It is almost all carbon dioxide (CO2)

6_venus_lightning_concept_2006_h.jpg (JPEG Image, 1024 × 7... http://lightsinthedark.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/6_venus_ligh...

Did Venus undergo a runaway

greenhouse effect?

Should we be worried?

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 Temperature of the Earth
If Earth didn’t have an atmosphere it would
have the same temperature as the Moon
since it is the same distance form the Sun.

Because of its atmosphere, it has a

higher temperature than that

Calculated value: TEarth = 253 K = -20 oC = -4 oF

Actual value: TEarth = 288 K = 15 oC = 60 oF

Because of its atmosphere the

Earth is a Goldilocks planet

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 A Tale of Three Planets

Venus Earth Mars

Distance from SUN 0.72 AU
http://www.myninjaplease.com/green/http://green.myninjaplease...
1.0 AU 1.5 AU
mars-earth-venus.jpg (JPEG Image, 2500 × 1668 pixels) - Scaled...

Temperature Calculated 305 K (90 oF) 253 K (-4 oF) 218 K (-67 oF)

Temperature Actual 723 K (800 oF) 288 K (60 oF) 218 K (-67 oF)

1 AU = 1.5 x 108 km
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 Clicker Question
For which of the three planets below does the
power radiated by the planet’s surface equal the
power that the planet absorbs from the Sun ?
a) Venus
b) Mars
c) Earth
d) All three

e) None of these

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