Stefan’s law of radiation

 Aim
Verification of Stefan Boltzmann law of radiation
 Tools
- Tungsten filament, Voltmeter, Ammeter, Rheostat, Power supply.
 Background
All object radiate energy continuously in the form of electromagnetic waves produced by thermal vibration of
molecules.
The state Stefan Boltzmann law of radiation state that the rate of energy emitted by an object is proportional to the
fourth power of temperature

P T 4

Also the power radiated is proportional to the emissivity of the object and this value is ranging from 0 up to 1 according
the colure type of the object. The emissivity of the black body is equal to unity.
Black body
Is an ideal absorber (absorb all radiation) for any radiation incident on also is an ideal reflector for absorbed radiation
so that the emissivity e =1.
P e
P A
Where A is the Area of the object,
Then the proportional sign removed and introducing the proportional constant known as Boltzmann constant σ an
equal to 5.669 6 × 10-8 W/m2K4
P   eA T 4

If the temperature of the surrounded is taken into account the last law becomes

P   eA (T 4
T o4 )
Experimental approach to Stefan Boltzmann law of radiation involving the use of flaming that radiate a high thermal
radiation by raising its temperature
the circuit involved in our experiment is shown in Fig. 1.

But the temperature generated in an electric circuit is proportional

to the resistance of the circuit in the case of conduction

T R
T  Const * R
T  Const * R 4 in the radiation
4

Then,
p   eA *const * R 4
The value eA *Const  C Fig. 1: circuit of Stefan’s law
Taking the natural logarithm of both sides gives
ln P  lnC  4ln R

 Method:

1 connect the circuit as shown in the last figure

2 varying the variable resistance by reducing the value of the resistance
3 when the current reach 0.2 mA on the ammeter then record the value of the voltage on the voltammeter
4 repeat the last step when the current reading is 0.4 mA and up to the last value in your table in each time
record the value of the voltage
5 tabulate your result as shown
6 plot graph between the power P and the resistance R
7 Calculate the value of ∆P and then tabulate your result in your new table
8 plot graph between Ln (∆P) and the resistance Ln R P
9 calculate the slop it must be approximately 4
I V P =I*V R=V/I

R
Fig. 2
lnP
∆P R LnP lnR

lnR