Planck blackbodies and the Stefan Boltzmann formula
Channel: Steven Neshyba
Date: 2017-09-14

We explore here ways in which the intensity and wavelength (color) of light emitted by solid objects depends on the temperature.  For hot objects like the sun, for example, the wavelength of peak emission is about 0.5 micrometers, while for colder objects like the earth, the wavelength of peak emission is much higher, about 10 micrometers. We also discuss the connection between these curves and the Stefan Boltzmann formula, namely, that the Stefan-Boltzmann formula give you the total amount of energy emitted by a given blackbody, regardless of wavelength. Mathematically, this total energy is proportional to the area under a blackbody curve.