Royal Holloway, University of London PH1140/1150 Scientific Skills Department of Physics

B14: Stefan’s Law and the Inverse Square Law

14.1 Aims
The aim of this experiment is

• to investigate the Stefan-Boltzmann Law relating the

power radiated to the temperature of the radiator;

• to test whether radiation from a small heated electric

filament varies with the inverse square of the distance
from the filament.

14.2 Background
An object at a any temperature above absolute zero radi-
ates electromagnetic energy. An ideal black body radiates a
power per unit area (W m−2 ) of

P = σT 4 (14.1)
where T is the absolute temperature and σ is the Stefan-
Boltzmann constant (= 5.67 × 10−8 W m−2 K−4 ). In gen-
eral the radiated power is less than this and can be written
as

P = εσT 4 (14.2)
where ε is the emissivity, which may depend on wavelength.
N.B. The temperature must be expressed on the absolute
temperature or Kelvin scale (0◦ C + 273.15 K).

Q1 From Equation 14.2, what would be the form of a

graph of log P against log T ?

The intensity of radiation spreading uniformly in all di-

rections from a small source will vary with the inverse
square of the distance from the source, i.e.
1
W (x) ∝ (14.3)
x2
Figure 14.1: Stefan-Boltzmann lamp
where W is the intensity at a distance x.

14.3 Equipment
Important Safety Warning Caution lamp will get hot,
handle using the base only
This experiment uses the Pasco Stefan-Boltzmann Lamp
TD-8555 (Figure 14.1), and the Radiation Sensor TD-8553
(Figure 14.2).
The filament of the lamp is made of tungsten. The varia-
tion with temperature of the resistance of tungsten is known

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Royal Holloway, University of London PH1140/1150 Scientific Skills
Figure 14.2: Radiation sensor
and is shown in Figure 14.3. Hence if the resistance of the
filament at room temperature is known, the temperature of
the filament can be obtained from a measurement of its re-
sistance.
The Radiation Sensor measures the relative intensities of
incident thermal radiation. The sensing element, a miniature
thermopile, produces a voltage proportional to the intensity
of the radiation. The spectral response of the thermopile is
essentially flat in the infrared region (from 0.5 to 40 µm),
and the voltages produced range from the microvolt range
up to around 100 millivolts.
A spring-clip shutter is opened and closed by sliding the
shutter ring forward or back. During experiments, the shut-
ter should be closed when measurements are not actively
being taken. This helps reduce temperature shifts in the
thermopile reference junction which can cause the sensor
response to drift.
14.4 Investigation of Stefan’s law
Identify and list any potential hazards associated with this
experiment and what control measures are in place to min-
imise the risk
(A mirror image of) the general layout of the apparatus is
shown in Figure 14.4.
• Set up the circuit shown in Figure 14.5 to supply power
to the lamp. Connect the voltmeter directly across
the lamp terminals so that voltage drops along the
wires from the power supply will not affect your read-
ings. For the initial readings, set the voltmeter on the
200 mV scale and the ammeter on the 200 mA scale.
• Move the radiation sensor so that the the marker on
the base is on the 10 cm line on the metre rule. This
B14: Stefan’s Law and the Inverse Square Law
Department of Physics
will place the sensor about 6 cm away from the lamp
filament.
• Place the foam heatshield between the lamp and the
sensor, with the metallised side facing the lamp.
• Connect the output of the radiation sensor to a digital
multimeter, set on its most sensitive voltage range.
• You need to know the resistance of the lamp filament
when cold. This can be obtained by applying a (small)
voltage, V , across the filament and measuring the cor-
responding (small) current, I.
Q2 Why is it important to use a small voltage and current?
Q3 How can you decide whether your voltage and current
are small enough?
Q4 Measure V for a value of I around 100 mA.
Q5 Calculate the filament resistance under these condi-
tions.
Q6 Calculate the power dissipation in the filament during
your measurement.
Q7 The rated power of the bulb in normal use is 36 W.
Explain whether you think that the filament will have
been at approximately room temperature during the
measurement.
Q8 If you think the values you have used are appropri-
ate, then you have already measured the resistance at
room temperature, Rroom . If not, then choose a differ-
ent voltage/current pair and obtain a value for Rroom .
Q9 Measure V , I and the output of the radiation sensor, S,
for a number of voltages in the range up to 12 V. Take
care to avoid exceeding 13 V input to the lamp at any
time. Note that you need to alter the connection on the
ammeter when the current exceeds 2 A. Remember
to change the connection back when you switch the
ammeter back to a lower range. When taking each
reading, move the heat shield out of the way and open
the shutter on the sensor for as little time as possible.
Q10 For each value of V , calculate R = V /I and hence find
the filament temperature from the empirical equation
T = A α3 + B α2 +C α + D
where A = 0.109 K, B = −4.99 K, C = 231 K, D =
74 K and α = R/Rroom , the relative resistance of the
filament to that at room temperature. (This is the curve
plotted in Figure 14.3.)
Q11 Use Python to plot log S against log T .
Q12 Use plotter.py and the the result of Q1 to find
a measured value for the exponent of Equation 14.2.
Compare this with the expected value.
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Royal Holloway, University of London PH1140/1150 Scientific Skills Department of Physics

Variation of resistivity with temperature for tungsten

4000

3500

3000

2500
Temperature/K

2000

1500

1000

500

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Relative resistivity

Figure 14.3: Dependence of the resistivity of tungsten on temperature

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Royal Holloway, University of London PH1140/1150 Scientific Skills
Figure 14.4: General layout of the apparatus
Figure 14.5: Circuit for the lamp
14.5 Investigation of the inverse square law
In this part of the experiment you will investigate whether
radiation from the lamp follows the inverse square law. You
use the same apparatus as the first experiment.
Q13 With the lamp OFF and the foam heatshield removed,
record the sensor output voltage, S, at 10 cm intervals
along the track. Average these values to determine the
background thermal radiation level.
Replace the heat shield.
Q14 Make a series of readings of the sensor output as a
function of x. Remember that you expect the output
to change as the inverse square of the distance; you
should therefore choose your distances so that when
you plot against 1/x2 the points will be approximately
equally spaced along the 1/x2 axis.
B14: Stefan’s Law and the Inverse Square Law
Department of Physics
Make each reading as quickly as possible and between
readings keep the heat shield in front of the lamp to
avoid heating up the sensor.
Q15 Adjust each value of S by subtracting the background
value.
Q16 Use Python to plot a graph of S against x.
1
Q17 Use Python to plot a graph of S against .
x2
Q18 Use plotter.py to test whether your points lie on
a straight line, indicating agreement with the inverse
square law? If not, is it the points corresponding to
small or large values of x that show the most marked
deviation from the straight line?
Q19 Replot your graph, using only the region correspond-
ing to a straight line.
Q20 Deduce over what range of x your measurements fit
the inverse square law. Discuss how your answer is
related to the size of the radiating filament.
14.6 Summary
Q21 Write a short summary of your work, outlining the ob-
jectives of the experiment, giving the main results ob-
tained (referring to graphs where appropriate) and the
conclusions you have reached.
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Royal Holloway, University of London PH1140/1150 Scientific Skills Department of Physics

Equipment list
• Pasco Stefan-Boltzmann Lamp

• Farnell L30E Power Supply (12V DC, 3A)

• 3 Black Star DMMs for measuring the lamp voltage,
the lamp current, and the radiation sensor output
• Pasco Thermal Radiation Sensor

• PTI 1 meter optical bench

• 2 PTI standard bench saddles

• Pasco stand, large croc clip and heat reflector

• 1 metre and 0.5 metre rules

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