B.

Sc II Semester Radiation A D B F G College, H Halli

VSK University, Ballari
BSc II Semester
PHY 201: Paper 2: Heat & Thermodynamics, Waves & Oscillations
Syllabus:
Radiation (8 hrs)
Black body radiation and the spectrum of energy distribution, Kirchhoff’s law of radiation, Stefan’s law,
Statements of Wien’s displacement law and Rayleigh-Jeans law, Derivation of Planck’s law of radiation,
deduction of Wien’s, Rayleigh-jeans and Stefan’s laws from the Planck’s law. Radiation pressure (no
derivation). Crooke’s radiometer.
Radiation

Radiation is a process in which heat is transmitted from one body to another without intervening the medium.

A body at any temperature emits radiant energy referred to as thermal radiation. The quantity and
quality of this radiation depends on the temperature and properties of the body. At room temperature, the
wavelength of the thermal radiation are primarily in the infrared region and hence are not observed by the eye.
As the temperature of the body increases, the body eventually begins to glow red. At sufficiently high
temperatures the body appears to be white, careful study shows that, as the temperature of a body increases,
the thermal radiation it emits consists of a continuous distribution of wavelengths from the infrared, visible
and ultraviolet position of the spectrum.

Apart from emitting electromagnet radiation, a heated body also absorbs a part of the radiation falling
on it. G.R.Kirchhoff in 1889 proposed the theorem that the ratio of the emissive power to the absorptive power
of a body is constant and depends only on the temperature of the body and independent of its nature.

Definitions:

Absorptive power (a): It is defined as the ratio of the radiation absorbed by a surface in a given time to the
amount of radiation incident on it in the same time.

Emissive power (e): Emissive power of a surface is defined as the energy emitted by the surface per second
per unit area of the surface.

Emissivity of a surface (E): It is the ratio of the total emissive power of a body to the total emissive power
of a perfectly black body at the same temperature. For a perfectly blackbody, emissivity is 1. For any other
body it is less than 1.

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B.Sc II Semester Radiation A D B F G College, H Halli
Distribution of energy in the black body spectrum:

Lummer and Pringsheim investigated the distribution of energy of the radiation emitted by a black body at
different temperatures. The variation of energy with wavelength at different temperatures is as in the graph.
From graph the following results are observed.

1. The energy is not uniformly distributed in the radiation

spectrum of a black body.
2. At a given temperature, the intensity of radiations increases with
increase in wavelength and becomes maximum at a particular
wavelength. By further increasing the wavelength, intensity of
heat radiations decreases.
3. An increase in temperature causes an increase in energy
emission for all wavelengths.
4. An increase in temperature causes a decrease in 𝜆𝑚 , where 𝜆𝑚 is the wavelength for which the energy
emitted is maximum.
5. The area under each curve represents the total energy emitted by the body at a particular temperature.
This area increases with increase in temperature of the body. It is found that the area is directly
proportional to the fourth power of absolute temperature, that is 𝐸 ∝ 𝑇 4 which is Stefan’s law.

Laws of radiation:

Kirchhoff’s law of radiation: The law states that the ratio of the emissive power to the absorptive power is
the same for all surfaces at the same temperature and is equal to the emissive power of a perfectly black body
at that temperature.

If 𝑒𝜆 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝜆 represent the emissive power and absorptive power of a given surface and 𝐸𝜆 is the emissivity of
the perfectly black surface at the same temperature, then, according to the law,

𝑒𝜆
= 𝐸𝜆 = 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝑎𝜆

Stefan’s law: The amount of heat lost by radiation of hot bodies was experimentally studied by Newton,
Dulong and Petit, Tyndall and others. An empirical law for the heat lost by a hot body was arrived at by Joseph
Stefan in 1879. The law states that “The rate of emission of radiant energy per unit area of a perfectly black
body is directly proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature”.
𝐸 ∝ 𝑇4
𝐸 = 𝜎𝑇 4
Where 𝜎 the constant of proportionality, called the Stefan’s constant. Its value is 5.67 × 10−8 𝑊𝑚−2 𝐾 −4.

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B.Sc II Semester Radiation A D B F G College, H Halli
Suppose, a black body at a temperature T is surrounded by another black body at a temperature T0, then the
net amount of energy radiated per second through unit area is given by,
𝐸 = 𝜎(𝑇 4 − 𝑇04 )
This is known as Stefan’s-Boltzmann law.
Wien’s displacement law: We have seen that, with rise in temperature of the black body, the maximum
intensity of emission shifts towards the shorter wavelength side. The maximum energy of emission gets
associated with increasingly shorter wavelengths. This was given by W.Wien in 1893 and is known as Wien’s
displacement law. It states that, for a black body the minimum wavelength 𝜆𝑚 for which the emissive power
has its maximum value is inversely proportional to its absolute temperature.
𝜆𝑚 𝑇 = 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
The value of the constant is 2.93 × 10−3 𝑚𝐾. As T increases 𝜆𝑚 decreases (fig) and the maximum intensity
shifts of displaces towards the shorter wavelength side. Hence, the name displacement law.
This is obvious from the gradual change in colour exhibited by a black body as it is continuously heated. At 5250C, it appears dull
red, at 9000C cherry red, orange red at 11000C, yellow at 12500C and white at 16000c and bluish white beyond this.
Rayleigh-Jeans law: Rayleigh and Jean’s considered a black body radiator (cavity), which is full of
electromagnetic waves. The wavelengths of these waves lies in the range from 0 to ∞. The standing waves
are formed due to reflection from the walls. They calculated the number of possible waves having wavelengths
between 𝜆 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝜆. Using the law of equipartition of energy, the following distribution formula was deduced.
8𝜋𝑘𝑇
𝐸𝜆 𝑑𝜆 = 𝑑𝜆
𝜆4
Where k is the Boltzmann constant. This formula is based on the following assumptions.
1. The energy is equally distributed among the various degrees of freedom.
2. The radiation in a cavity has degrees of freedom which correspond to the frequencies of standing waves
possible in cavity.
This formula was found to agree with the experimental result in the long wavelength region.
Derivation of Planck’s law of radiation: Wien’s law and Rayleigh-Jean’s law fails to explain the observed
energy distribution in the spectrum of black body radiation. In 1900 Max Planck developed a structural model
foe black body radiation which is in agreement with experimental results at all wavelengths. Planck assumed
that oscillators exist at the surface of the black body. He postulated the following assumptions
1. The black body is made up of large number of oscillating particles. These particles can vibrate with all
possible frequencies.
2. An oscillator can have a discrete set of energies which are integral multiples of finite quantum of
energy 𝐸𝑛 = 𝑛ℎ𝜈; 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑛 = 1, 2, 3, … …
3. The atomic oscillators emit or absorb energy in discrete units. They emit or absorb energy only when
they changes quantum state.

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B.Sc II Semester Radiation A D B F G College, H Halli
Let 𝑁0 , 𝑁1 , 𝑁2 , … … … . , 𝑁𝑛 be the number of oscillators having energies
0, 1ℎ𝜈, 2ℎ𝜈, … … … … 𝑛ℎ𝜈 respectively in the body.
The total number of oscillators; 𝑁 = 𝑁0 + 𝑁1 + 𝑁2 + … … … . + 𝑁𝑛
The total energy of the body; 𝐸 = 0 + 𝐸 + 2𝐸 + 3𝐸 + ⋯ … … + 𝑛𝐸
𝐸
Average energy of an oscillator; 𝐸̅ = 𝑁

According to Maxwell’s distribution law, the number of particles in the nth oscillatory atomic system is
𝑁𝑛 = 𝑁0 𝑒 −𝑛ℎ𝜈/𝑘𝑇
Where k is the Boltzmann constant and T the absolute temperature.
ℎ𝜈 2ℎ𝜈 𝑛ℎ𝜈
∴ 𝑁 = 𝑁0 + 𝑁0 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 + 𝑁0 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 + ⋯ … … … + 𝑁0 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇

ℎ𝜈 2ℎ𝜈 𝑛ℎ𝜈
𝑁 = 𝑁0 [1 + 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 + 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 + ⋯ … … … + 𝑒− 𝑘𝑇 ]

ℎ𝜈 −1
𝑁 = 𝑁0 [1 − 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 ]

𝑁0
∴𝑁= ℎ𝜈
1 − 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇
Total energy of the oscillators,
𝐸 = 𝑁0 . 0 + 𝑁1 . ℎ𝜈 + 𝑁2 . 2ℎ𝜈 + ⋯ … . . +𝑁𝑛 . 𝑛ℎ𝜈
ℎ𝜈 2ℎ𝜈 𝑛ℎ𝜈
𝐸 = 0 + 𝑁0 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 . ℎ𝜈 + 𝑁0 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 . 2ℎ𝜈 + ⋯ … … . . +𝑁0 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 . 𝑛ℎ𝜈

ℎ𝜈 ℎ𝜈 2ℎ𝜈
𝐸 = 𝑁0 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 . ℎ𝜈 [1 + 2𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 + 3𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 + ⋯……]

ℎ𝜈 ℎ𝜈 −2
− −
𝐸 = 𝑁0 𝑒 𝑘𝑇 . ℎ𝜈 [1 −𝑒 𝑘𝑇 ]

ℎ𝜈 ℎ𝜈
𝐸 = 𝑁0 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇
ℎ𝜈 2
−
[1 − 𝑒 𝑘𝑇 ]

Average energy of an oscillator,

ℎ𝜈
𝐸 ℎ𝜈 ℎ𝜈 [1 − 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 ]
𝐸̅ = = 𝑁0 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 ×
𝑁 ℎ𝜈 2 𝑁0
−
[1 − 𝑒 𝑘𝑇 ]

ℎ𝜈
ℎ𝜈. 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 ℎ𝜈
𝐸̅ = ℎ𝜈 = ℎ𝜈
[1 − 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 ] [1 − 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 ]
ℎ𝜈
𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇
ℎ𝜈
𝐸̅ = ℎ𝜈
[𝑒 𝑘𝑇 − 1]

If 𝜈 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜈 + 𝑑𝜈 is the frequency range, the number of oscillations is given by

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B.Sc II Semester Radiation A D B F G College, H Halli
8𝜋𝜈 2
𝑁 = 3 𝑑𝜈
𝑐
Total energy per unit volume in the frequency range 𝜈 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜈 + 𝑑𝜈 is
8𝜋𝜈 2
𝐸𝜈 𝑑𝜈 = 𝑑𝜈 × 𝐸̅
𝑐3
8𝜋𝜈 2 ℎ𝜈
𝐸𝜈 𝑑𝜈 = 𝑑𝜈 × ℎ𝜈
𝑐3
[𝑒 𝑘𝑇 − 1]

𝟖𝝅𝒉𝝂𝟑 𝟏
𝑬𝝂 𝒅𝝂 = × 𝒉𝝂
𝒅𝝂
𝒄𝟑
[𝒆 𝒌𝑻 − 𝟏]

This is called Planck’s radiation law. It agrees well with the experimental results of both for the long
wavelength and the short wavelength ends of the energy spectrum.
Note:
𝑐 𝑐
Since 𝜈 = 𝜆 , 𝑑𝜈 = − 𝜆2 𝑑𝜆 & 𝐸𝜆 𝑑𝜆 = −𝐸𝜈 𝑑𝜈, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝜆 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝜈 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠.
𝑐 3
8𝜋ℎ ( ) 1 𝑐
𝐸𝜆 𝑑𝜆 = 𝜆 × . 𝑑𝜆
𝑐3 ℎ𝑐 𝜆2
[𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇 − 1]

8𝜋ℎ𝑐 𝑑𝜆
∴ 𝐸𝜆 𝑑𝜆 = × ℎ𝑐 − − − −(1)
𝜆5
[𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇 − 1]

This is called Planck’s radiation law (in terms of wavelength). It agrees well with the experimental results of
both for the long wavelength and the short wavelength ends of the energy spectrum.
Special cases:
For shorter wavelength:
ℎ𝜈
Since 𝜆 is very small, the frequency 𝜈 is larger when E is large, 𝑒 𝑘𝑇 also becomes very large.
ℎ𝜈 ℎ𝜈 ℎ𝜈
That is 𝑒 𝑘𝑇 ≫ 1; 𝑒 𝑘𝑇 − 1 = 𝑒 𝑘𝑇 , thus equation (1) becomes
8𝜋ℎ𝑐
∴ 𝐸𝜆 𝑑𝜆 = ℎ𝑐 𝑑𝜆 − − − −(2)
𝜆5 𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇
Equation (2) is Wien’s distribution law of radiation.
For longer wavelength: (Deduction of Rayleigh-Jean’s law from Planck’s law)
ℎ𝑐
For longer wavelength 𝜆 is large and ∴ is very small.
𝜆𝑘𝑇

ℎ𝑐 ℎ𝑐 ℎ𝑐 2 ℎ𝑐
𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇 =1+ +( ) + ⋯…….= 1 +
𝜆𝑘𝑇 𝜆𝑘𝑇 𝜆𝑘𝑇
ℎ𝑐 ℎ𝑐
𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇 − 1 =
𝜆𝑘𝑇
Thus, equation (1) becomes
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B.Sc II Semester Radiation A D B F G College, H Halli
8𝜋ℎ𝑐 𝑑𝜆
∴ 𝐸𝜆 𝑑𝜆 = ×
𝜆 5 ℎ𝑐
𝜆𝑘𝑇
8𝜋𝑘𝑇
∴ 𝐸𝜆 𝑑𝜆 = 4 𝑑𝜆
𝜆
This is Rayleigh-Jean’s law of radiation.
Deduction of Wien’s from the Planck’s law:
We know that the Planck’s radiation formula is given by
8𝜋ℎ𝑐 𝑑𝜆
𝐸𝜆 𝑑𝜆 = × ℎ𝑐
𝜆5
[𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇 − 1]
𝑑𝐸𝜆
Now we will find the wavelength at the maximum spectral radiancy. That is =0
𝑑𝜆

𝑑𝐸𝜆 𝑑 1 1
= 8𝜋ℎ𝑐 . { 5 . ℎ𝑐 }=0
𝑑𝜆 𝑑𝜆 𝜆
[𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇 − 1]

𝑑𝐸𝜆 1 (−1) ℎ𝑐 (−ℎ𝑐) 1 (−5)

= 5 . 2 . 𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇 . + ℎ𝑐 . =0
𝑑𝜆 𝜆 ℎ𝑐 𝜆2 𝑘𝑇 𝜆6
[𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇 − 1] [𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇 − 1]
{ }
ℎ𝑐
1 5 ℎ𝑐 𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇
ℎ𝑐 . 6 = 7 . 2
𝜆 𝜆 𝑘𝑇 ℎ𝑐
[𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇 − 1] [𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇 − 1]
ℎ𝑐
ℎ𝑐 𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇
5= . ℎ𝑐
𝜆 𝑘𝑇
[𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝑇 − 1]
ℎ𝑐
Let 𝜆 𝑘𝑇 = 𝑥, then we have
𝑥𝑒 𝑥 𝑥
5= =
[𝑒 𝑥 − 1] [1 − 𝑒 −𝑥 ]
On solving this we get 𝑥 = 4.96
ℎ𝑐
∴ = 4.96
𝜆 𝑘𝑇
Thus the wavelength 𝜆𝑚 at which the spectral radiancy per unit range of wavelength has its maximum value
which is expresses as
ℎ𝑐
∴ 𝜆𝑚 𝑇 = = 𝑏 (𝑎𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡)
4.96 𝑘
Where ℎ = 6.626 × 10−34 𝑗𝑠, 𝑐 = 3 × 108 𝑚𝑠 −1 , 𝑘 = 1.38 × 10−23 𝑗/𝐾
This is Wien’s Displacement law.

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B.Sc II Semester Radiation A D B F G College, H Halli
Stefan’s law from the Planck’s law: From Planck’s formula, the energy density in terms of frequency
between the range 𝜈 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜈 + 𝑑𝜈 is given by
8𝜋ℎ𝜈 3 𝑑𝜈
𝜀𝜈 𝑑𝜈 = × ℎ𝜈
𝑐3
[𝑒 𝑘𝑇 − 1]

For entire frequency

∞ ∞
8𝜋ℎ𝜈 3 𝑑𝜈
𝜀 = ∫ 𝜀𝜈 𝑑𝜈 = ∫ × ℎ𝜈
𝑐3
0 0 [𝑒 𝑘𝑇 − 1]
ℎ𝜈 𝑘𝑇 𝑘𝑇
Put =𝑥; 𝜈= . 𝑥 ; 𝑑𝜈 = . 𝑑𝑥
𝑘𝑇 ℎ ℎ

∴ 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒), 𝑖𝑠

∞
8𝜋ℎ 𝑘𝑇 3 3 1 𝑘𝑇
𝜀=∫ 3 . ( ) . 𝑥 . 𝑥 . ( ) . 𝑑𝑥
𝑐 ℎ 𝑒 −1 ℎ
0
∞
8𝜋ℎ 𝑘𝑇 4 𝑥3
𝜀= 3 . ( ) ∫ 𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑐 ℎ 𝑒 −1
0

8𝜋 𝑘 4 𝑇 4 𝜋 4
𝜀= . .
𝑐 3 ℎ3 15
𝑐
Total radiation emitted E is related to the energy density by 𝐸 = 4 𝜀

𝑐 8 𝜋5 𝑘4
∴ 𝐸= . . 𝑇4
4 15 𝑐 3 ℎ3
2 𝜋5 𝑘 4
𝐸 = 𝜎 𝑇 4 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝜎 = 15 𝑐 2 ℎ3 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑓𝑎𝑛′ 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡

This is Stefan’s law.

Radiation pressure (no derivation): Electromagnetic waves transport linear momentum as well as energy.
It follows that as tis momentum is absorbed by some surface, pressure is exerted in the surface and is called
“Radiation Pressure”.
Crooke’s radiometer: It consists of a freely pivoted two small aluminium rods, arranged
in the form of a cross, with a thin vertical mica vanes attached to it, which are blackened
in one side and polished on the other, all blackened sides facing one way and the polished
ones the other way. The whole arrangement is enclosed in a glass bulb, the pressure inside
which is reduced to about 1 mm of mercury. On exposure to thermal radiation, the
blackened sides become hotter than the polished ones and the air molecules striking them
rebound with a greater average velocity, with the result that there is a net force of reaction
on them which makes them rotate or spin around, as though repelled by the incident
radiation. This differential effect on the vanes, due to the temperature difference on their
two sides is called radiometric effect.
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