May 2022

UAEH

Blackbody Radiation
Gino A. Longoni1 *

Abstract
This article exposes a comparison between the theory and an experiment on the radiation of the black body. The
objective is to show the results obtained and how they fit the distribution theory carried out by Max Planck, where
he introduces the concept of quantization of light.Also to understand the importance in the study of black body
radiation, since it was the basis for moving from classical mechanics to quantum mechanics.
Keywords
Radiation, Energy, Black-body, Thermodynamics, Quantum
1 Academic Area of Mathematics and Physics, Institute of Basic Sciences and Engineering, UAEH
Highway Pachuca-Tulancingo Km 4.5, Col Carboneras, C.P 42184
Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico
*Contact: lo403071@uaeh.edu.mx

Contents 1. Theory
Introduction 1 When scientists start to study the interaction of radia-
tion with matter, notice that something was wrong. When
1 Theory 1
heated, a solid object glows and emits thermal radiation.
1.1 Rayleigh-Jeans formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 This glow gives off visible light whose colors varies with
1.2 Wien´s energy density distribution . . . . . . . . . . 2 the temperature of the metal, going from red to white as it
1.3 Planck Radiation Formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 becomes hotter.The thermal radiation emitted by glowing
2 Experimental development 2 solid objects consists of a continuous distribution of fre-
quencies ranging from infrared to ultraviolet. The problem
2.1 Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
was in understanding the continuous nature of radiation
2.2 Error propagation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 emitted by a glowing solid object.
3 Results 4
3.1 Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4 Conclusions 4
Acknowledgments 4
References 4

Introduction
At the end of the 18th century, scientists of the time were
interested in studying thermal radiation. For this they built
a black box with a hole that would absorb all the radiation
and emit nothing. In a thermal equilibrium, the radiation
from the box will exit through the hole and with this the Figure 1. Black-body radiation spectrum.Adapted from figure
thermal radiation of a black body could be studied. How- 1.1, Zettili,N. 2009
ever, classical physics did not fit what was experimentally
found in what they called the ultraviolet catastrophe. At Now, it is important to understand what we mean by a
the beginning of the 19th century it was Max Planck who black body. When radiation falls on an object, some of
raised the idea that energy is measured in quanta and it might be absorbed and some reflected. An idealized
laid the foundations for what we now know as quantum “black-body” is a material object that absorbs all of the
mechanics. The following article initially shows the theory radiation falling on it, and hence appears as black un-
and formulas proposed in the study of black body radia- der reflection when illuminated from outside. A wealth
tion. Subsequently, the developed experiment is exposed of experimental data about black-body radiation was ob-
and finally the analysis of the data obtained. tained for various objects. All these results show that,
 Blackbody Radiation — 2/4

at equilibrium, the radiation emitted has a well-defined,

continuous energy distribution: to each frequency there
corresponds an energy density which depends only on
the temperature.

In Figure 1 we can see the spectral energy density of black-

-body radiation at different temperatures as a function of
the frequency. Using the relation between frequency and
wavelength there is an inverse relationship between the
wavelength at which the emission peak of a black body
occurs and its temperature. This is known as Wien’s dis-
placement law.

1.1 Rayleigh-Jeans formula

Figure 2. Comparison of the Rayleigh-Jeans formula and the
At the end of the nineteen century, Lord Rayleigh and
James Jeans studied the shape of the black-body spec-
spectrum of blackbody radiation. Adapted from figure
trum shown in figure 1. They considered the radiation to
2.6.Beiser. 2003
consist of standing waves that are equivalent to harmonic
oscillators and have a temperature T with nodes at the
1.3 Planck Radiation Formula
metallic surfaces. When the cavity is in thermal equilib-
In 1900 Planck made an interpolation between Wien’s rule
rium, the electromagnetic energy density inside the cavity
and the Rayleigh–Jeans and proposed an accurate de-
is equal to the energy density of the charged particles in
scription of black-body radiation. Planck considered that
the walls of the cavity. the average total energy of the
the energy exchange between radiation and matter must
radiation leaving the cavity can be obtained by multiplying
be discrete. Then he postulated that the energy of the
the average energy of the oscillators by the number of
radiation emitted by the oscillating charges must come
modes (standing waves) of the radiation in the frequency
only in integer multiples of hv.
interval v to v + dv. So the electromagnetic energy density
in the frequency range v to dv si given by: We define h as a universal constant (Planck constant) and
v the frequency of the oscillating charge. So, hv is the
u(v, T ) = N(v) < E >= 8πv2 /c3 < E > (1) energy of a ”quantum” of radiation. Equation number 4 is
known as Planck’s quantization rule, with n:1,2,3...
Using the equipartition theorem of classical thermody-
namics, that says that all the oscillators in the cavity have E = nhv (4)
the same mean energy, irrespective of their frequencies,
we can calculate E , which gives us the Boltzmann con- Assuming that the energy of an oscillator is quantized,
stant multiplied by the temperature. Finally we have the Planck showed that the correct thermodynamic relation
Rayleigh-Jeans formula: for the average energy can be obtained by using a dis-
crete summation corresponding to the discreteness of
u(v, T ) = [8πv2 /c3 ]kT (2) the oscillators energies. So, the Planck´s distribution is
given by:
This formula is only valid at low frequencies; at high val-
ues the formula diverges, so it disagrees with experimen- u(v, T ) = [8πv2 /c3 ][hv/ehv/kT − 1] (5)
tal data. We can see it graphically in figure 2.
Planck’s relation leads to a finite total energy density of
1.2 Wien´s energy density distribution the radiation emitted from a blackbody, and hence avoids
Another attempt to understand the black-body was made the ultraviolet catastrophe. Second, in the limit of high
by Whilhelm Wien. Using thermodynamic arguments he frequencies, we can easily ascertain that Planck’s distri-
extend the Stefan-Boltzmann law and obtain the energy bution yields Wien’s rule. We can see it in figure number
density per unit frequency of the emitted black-body radi- 3.
ation:
In summary, the spectrum of the blackbody radiation re-
3 −β v/T veals the quantization of radiation, notably the particle
u(v, T ) = Av e (3)
behavior of electromagnetic waves.
Contrary to Rayleigh-Jeans formula, the Wien´s formula
fits at high frequencies, but disagree with the experimental 2. Experimental development
data at low frequencies.
 Blackbody Radiation — 3/4

Figure 3. Comparison of various spectral densities.Adapted

from figure 1.2, Zettili,N. 2009

Quantity Description
1 PASCO Spectrometer
1 Magnifying glass
1 Dewaxing oven
1 Universal support
1 Software PASCO Spectrometer

Table 1. Material list

2.1 Method
• The first step was to make a measurement pointing
the spectrometer at the sun (a black body) to have a
comparison graph.

• Then we raise the oven from 0 to 1000 degrees, mak-

ing measurements every 100 degrees with the spec- Figure 4. Graphic Abstract
trometer.

• Up to 700 degrees we began to see how the oven

began to emit red light.

• Upon reaching 1000 degrees we begin to obtain data

on the light emitted. These data were collected in
PASCO spectrometer software.

• For best results, we place a magnifying glass approx-

imately 40 cm from the oven and the light sensor in
a universal bracket as shown in the figure 4.

• Finally we obtained the graph that is presented later

in the results section.

2.2 Error propagation

For graphs obtained we use the error in a function. Taking
into account that the initial data are x+dx, and the graph
obtained is a function q(x), the uncertainty dq graphically
is given by: Figure 5. Graphical error propagation, example. Adapted
from https://www.uv.es/zuniga/3.2P ropagaciond ee rrores.pd f
dq = |qmax − qmin |/2 (6)
 Blackbody Radiation — 4/4

Figure 6. Spectrum of the sun Figure 8. Spectrum of the light

On the other hand, we have that Wien’s law about displace-

ment holds. As the temperature is increased, the peak
of the graph shifts toward visible light and the intensity
increases.

An other element that we can conclude is that it is neces-

sary to assume that the energy is transmitted in a discrete
way, with this, the theory adapts to the data collected ex-
perimentally and the problem of the ultraviolet catastrophe
Figure 7. Spectrum of the oven at 1000 degrees
is solved.

Finally, with the introduction of the Planck´s radiation

3. Results formula, a new physics start, the Quantum Mechanics.
3.1 Analysis
Graph number 6 shows us the spectrum obtained when Acknowledgments
measuring the sun with the light sensor. The result ob- Thanks to Dr. Mario Pérez González for providing us with
tained is similar to what is shown in figure number one the equipment to carry out the experiment and guiding us
that shows us the radiation spectrum of a black body. This in its development. Also for the knowledge transmitted
confirms the sun as a black body. The peak of the graph during the course of Quantum Mechanics.
is between 550 and 600 nm of the wavelength. Supporting
on figure number 8, we can see that it falls in the colors
yellow and orange. References
On the other hand figure 7 shows the spectrum obtained • Beiser, A., Mahajan, S. and Choudhury, S., n.d. Con-
by measuring the light emitted by the oven at 1000 de- cepts of modern physics.
grees. The peak of the curve is between 1400 and 1500
nm. This peak is in the infrared. • Santaolalla, J., 2018. La catástrofe ultravioleta ¡Mis-
terio cuántico resuelto!. [online] Youtube.com. Avail-
Now, making a comparison and taking Wien displacement able at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?
law into account; we can observe that the higher the tem- v=tqoum6xr-FA>[Accessed20May2022].
perature, the peak goes towards visible light and its peak
increases in intensity. This confirms that this spectrum • ZETTILI, N., 2021. QUANTUM MECHANICS. [S.l.]:
depends only on temperature. JOHN WILEY AND SONS.
Also the higher the temperature, the shorter the wave- • Uv.es. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.
length.To obtain a black body, the material must have a uv.es/zuniga/3.2Propagaciondeerrores.
temperature of approximately 6000 Kelvin. pdf>[Accessed20May2022].

4. Conclusions
Making a comparison between the theory and the results
obtained, we can firstly conclude that the distributed en-
ergy density depends only on the temperature. There is an
inverse relationship between temperature and wavelength;
the higher the temperature, the shorter the wavelength.