B lack B ody

A body which absorbs all radiations incident on it is called as black body.

Since a body which absorbs radiation, also emits radiation, therefore a black body may also be
defined as the body which emits all radiations.

R adiation: B asic T erms

Total Emissive Power

It is defined as the total radiant energy emitted from unit surface area of the body per second

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for all wavelengths taken together. If 𝑄 be the amount of radiant energy, emitted in time 𝑡 and 𝐴
be the surface area of the body, then emissive power,

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𝑄
𝐸=
𝐴𝑡

Spectral Emissive Power

It is defined as the radiant energy within a unit wavelength range, which is emitted by unit

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surface area of a body per second. It is denoted by 𝐸𝜆 .
Absorptive Power
At a particular temperature and for a particular wavelength the absorptive power of a body is
defined as the ratio of absorbed radiant energy per unit area per second to the energy incident
upon the same area in one second and within unit wavelength range. It is denoted by 𝑎𝜆 .
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Kirchhoff’s Law

It state that, at a given temperature the ratio of the emissive power 𝑒𝜆 to the absorptive power
𝑎𝜆 for a given wavelength 𝜆 is the same for all bodies and equal to the emissive power 𝐸𝜆 of a
perfectly black body at that temperature.
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𝑒𝜆
i.e. = 𝐸𝜆
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𝑎𝜆

It indicates that good absorbers of radiation are also good emitters.

S tefan's Law
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The law states that, If a black body at

absolute temperature 𝑇 is surrounded by
another black body at absolute
temperature 𝑇0 , the amount of energy 𝐸
lost per second per unit area of the
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former is,
𝐸 = 𝜎(𝑇 4 − 𝑇04 )

where 𝜎 is Stefan's constant.

B lack B ody R adiation S p ectrum

Lummer and Pringsheim investigated the

distribution of energy among the
radiation emitted by a black body. They
 plotted intensity of emitted radiation against wavelength at different temperatures. The curves
are shown in figure. These indicate that,
a) In the black body spectrum energy distribution is non-uniform.
b) With increase in temperature the energy emission increases for all wavelengths.
c) With increase in temperature the wavelength corresponding to maximum emission (𝜆𝑚)
decreases.
d) The area enclosed between a curve and wavelength axis gives total energy emitted at that
temperature. It is found to be proportional to 𝑇 4 (Stefan's law).

Wien’s Disp lacement Law

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The law states that, if the radiation of a particular wavelength at a certain temperature is

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adiabatically changed to another wavelength, the temperature changes inversely. i.e.
𝜆𝑇 = 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡

For wavelength 𝜆𝑚 corresponding to maximum emission we can write

𝜆𝑚 𝑇 = 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 = 𝑏 (𝑠𝑎𝑦)

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The constant 𝑏 is called Wien's displacement constant and it has a value 0.2896 cm. kelvin.

Wien’s Distrib ution Law

It states that,
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The amount of energy contained in the spectral region included within wavelengths 𝜆 and
𝜆 + 𝑑𝜆, emitted by a black body at temperature 𝑇, is of the form
𝐴
𝐸𝜆 𝑑𝜆 = 5 𝑓 (𝜆𝑇) 𝑑𝜆
𝜆

where 𝐴 is a constant and 𝑓(𝜆𝑇) is a function of product (𝜆𝑇).

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Wien's law explains energy distribution for only short wavelengths in the black body radiation
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spectrum.

R ay leig h-Jean's Law

Lord Rayleigh found the number of possible modes of vibrations between frequency 𝜈 and
𝜈 + 𝑑𝜈 in the black body radiation chamber as
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8𝜋𝜈 2
𝑁𝜈 𝑑𝜈 = 3 𝑑𝜈
𝑐

Putting 𝜈 = 𝑐/𝜆 and 𝑑𝜈 = −(𝑐/𝜆2 ) 𝑑𝜆 we get, number of vibrations in wavelength range 𝜆 and
𝜆 + 𝑑𝜆 as
Dr

8𝜋
𝑁𝜆 𝑑𝜆 = 4 𝑑𝜆
𝜆

Rayleigh-Jeans assumed that law of equipartition of energy can be applied to radiation and
hence the average energy of a mode of vibration as 𝑘𝑇 (𝑘 being Boltzmann constant). Therefore,
energy per unit volume within frequency range 𝜈 and 𝜈 + 𝑑𝜈,
8𝜋𝜈 2 𝑘𝑇
𝐸𝜈 𝑑𝜈 = 𝑑𝜈
𝑐3

or energy density in wavelength range 𝜆 and 𝜆 + 𝑑𝜆

 8𝜋𝑘𝑇
𝐸𝜆 𝑑𝜆 = 𝑑𝜆
𝜆4

This result is in experimental agreement for only long wavelengths in the black body radiation
spectrum.

P lank's Law of R adiation

Plank assumed that exchange of energy between matter and radiation takes place through
resonators of molecular dimensions and not continuously. The energy of a resonator is given by,
𝐸 = 𝑛ℎ𝜈 (1)

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where 𝜈 = frequency of resonator, ℎ is Plank's constant and 𝑛 is an integer.
Rayleigh-Jeans assumed that the average energy of a mode of vibration is 𝑘𝑇 (𝑘 being
Boltzmann constant) while Plank modified Rayleigh-Jeans law by taking average energy of a
Plank oscillator in place of 𝑘𝑇.
Average Energy of a Plank’s Oscillator

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The average energy of a plank oscillator may be evaluated in the following manner:
According to Maxwell's distribution law for molecular motion the probabilities that a molecule
will have energies 0, 𝜖, 2𝜖, … … are in the ratio,
1 ∶ 𝑒 −𝜖/𝑘𝑇 ∶ 𝑒 −2𝜖/𝑘𝑇 : … …
Hence, if 𝑁0 , 𝑁1 , 𝑁2 etc. represent the number of resonators possessing energies 0, 𝜖, 2𝜖, … …
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respectively, then
𝑁1 = 𝑁0 𝑒 −𝜖/𝑘𝑇, 𝑁2 = 𝑁0 𝑒 −2𝜖/𝑘𝑇 and so on.
Therefore total number of resonators
𝑁 = 𝑁0 + 𝑁1 + 𝑁2 + ⋯ …

= 𝑁0 + 𝑁0 𝑒 −𝜖/𝑘𝑇 + 𝑁0 𝑒 −2𝜖/𝑘𝑇 + ⋯ …
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Substituting 𝑒 −𝜖/𝑘𝑇 = 𝑥, we have

𝑁0
𝑁 = 𝑁0 (1 + 𝑥 + 𝑥 2 + ⋯ … ) = (2)
1 −𝑥

Further, the total energy of resonators

𝐸 = (0 × 𝑁0 ) + (𝜖 × 𝑁1 ) + (2𝜖 × 𝑁2 ) + ⋯ …
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= (𝜖 × 𝑁0 𝑒 −𝜖/𝑘𝑇 ) + (2𝜖 × 𝑁0 𝑒 −2𝜖/𝑘𝑇) + ⋯ …

= 𝜖𝑁0 ( 𝑒 −𝜖/𝑘𝑇 + 2 𝑒 −2𝜖/𝑘𝑇 + 3 𝑒 −3𝜖/𝑘𝑇 + ⋯ … )

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= 𝜖𝑁0 (𝑥 + 2𝑥 2 + 3𝑥 3 + ⋯ … )

= 𝜖𝑁0 𝑆 (3)

where
𝑆 = 𝑥 + 2𝑥 2 + 3𝑥 3 + ⋯ … = 𝑒 −𝜖/𝑘𝑇 + 2 𝑒 −2𝜖/𝑘𝑇 + 3 𝑒 −3𝜖/𝑘𝑇 + ⋯ …
Now, 𝑆𝑥 = 𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 3 + 3𝑥 4 + ⋯ …
 𝑥
Therefore, 𝑆(1 − 𝑥) = 𝑆𝑥 − 𝑆 = 𝑥 + 𝑥 2 + 𝑥 3 + ⋯ … =
1 −𝑥

𝑥
i.e. 𝑆=
(1 − 𝑥) 2

With this substitution Eq. (3) becomes

𝜖𝑁0 𝑥
𝐸= (4)
(1 − 𝑥) 2

Hence using Eq. (2) and (4), the average energy of Plank’s Oscillator

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𝐸 𝜖𝑁0 𝑥 1 −𝑥
𝜖̅ = = ×

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𝑁 (1 − 𝑥) 2 𝑁0

𝜖𝑥 𝜖𝑒 −𝜖/𝑘𝑇
i.e. 𝜖̅ = =
1 − 𝑥 1 − 𝑒 −𝜖/𝑘𝑇

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𝜖 ℎ𝜈
or 𝜖̅ = = (5)
𝑒 𝜖/𝑘𝑇 − 1 𝑒 ℎ𝜈/𝑘𝑇 − 1

According to Plank each resonator has only one degree of freedom, hence the number of
resonators per unit volume in the frequency range 𝜈 and 𝜈 + 𝑑𝜈
8𝜋𝜈 2
𝑁𝜈 𝑑𝜈 = 3 𝑑𝜈
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𝑐

Hence, energy density in the frequency range 𝜈 and 𝜈 + 𝑑𝜈

8𝜋𝜈 2 ℎ𝜈
𝐸𝜈 𝑑𝜈 = 3 × ℎ𝜈/𝑘𝑇 𝑑𝜈
𝑐 𝑒 −1
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8𝜋ℎ𝜈 3
= 𝑑𝜈 (6)
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𝑐 3 (𝑒 ℎ𝜈/𝑘𝑇 − 1)

Putting 𝜈 = 𝑐/𝜆 and |𝑑𝜈| = (𝑐/𝜆2 ) 𝑑𝜆 we get

8𝜋ℎ𝑐
𝐸𝜆 𝑑𝜆 = 5 ℎ𝑐/𝜆𝑘𝑇 𝑑𝜆 (7)
𝜆 (𝑒 − 1)
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This gives energy density for wavelength range 𝜆 and 𝜆 + 𝑑𝜆 in the black body radiation
spectrum.
For shorter wavelengths 𝑒 ℎ𝜈/𝑘𝑇 ≫ 1, therefore from Eq. (7)
8𝜋ℎ𝑐 ℎ𝑐
𝐸𝜆 𝑑𝜆 = 5 exp � − � 𝑑𝜆 (Wien’s Law)
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𝜆 𝜆𝑘𝑇

Further, for longer wavelengths ℎ𝜈/𝑘𝑇 is very small, therefore in equation (7) expanding
exp(ℎ𝜈/𝑘𝑇) and neglecting higher order terms we get
8𝜋𝑘𝑇
𝐸𝜆 𝑑𝜆 = 4 𝑑𝜆 (Rayleigh Jean’s Law)
𝜆