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Physics 445LW
Modern Physics Laboratory
Stefan-Boltzmann

Introduction
The problem of blackbody radiation was one of the central sticking points of classical physics. Each
time an explanation of the phenomena was proposed experimental results showed it to be inadequate.
The problem was especially difficult when considering the thermal radiation analyzed over all
wavelengths of light. In this experiment we will only consider the aggregate case.
Theory
Thermal radiation was defined by Maxwell as when "the hot body loses energy and the cold body gains
energy by some process occurring in the intervening medium, which does not itself thereby absorb
energy." If the intervening medium is vacuum or a gas consisting of symmetric molecules, then it can
be considered to be "thermally transparent". However, if the medium consists of non-symmetric
molecules such as H2O or CO2 energy may be strongly absorbed at some wavelengths. [1]
The rate at which an object radiates energy is proportional to the fourth power of its absolute
temperature. This is known as Stefan's law and is expressed as
P = "AeT 4

where P is power in watts, A is the area of the object in square meters, e is the emissivity of the object
which depends on the character of the object, T is the temperature in kelvins, and ! is a constant known
!
as the Stefan-Boltzmann constant.
As an object radiates energy it also absorbs energy from its surroundings otherwise it would eventually
radiate all its energy and reach absolute zero. So, if an object is at temperature T and its surroundings
are at an average temperature T0, then its net rate of energy change is given by
Pnet = "Ae(T 4 # T04 )

An object which absorbs all of the energy which falls on it is called an ideal absorber or blackbody.
For such a body e = 1. In this experiment we will determine the constant ! which is referred to as the
! more information see [6] or [7].
Stefan-Boltzmann constant. For

UMKC, Department of Physics

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Modern Physics Stefan-Boltzmann

Experimental Apparatus and Procedures

Apparatus
The apparatus is the Laws of Radiation apparatus supplied by Klinger Educational Products with local
modifications. The system consists of an electric oven that heats a burnished brass cylinder 3.5 cm in
diameter by 10 cm long. The oven has a 2.9 cm hole in one end for emission of radiation and a 1.2 cm
hole in the other end for the temperature probe. The temperature probe is a NiCr-Ni sensor with a
digital thermometer. The oven is powered by a Powerstat variable autotransformer that is connected
through a safety box. The oven is shielded by a water cooled blackbody accessory with a 1.7cm
opening. The power is measured by a Scientech 361 power meter and sensor. The oven, temperature
probe, blackbody accessory, and power meter sensor are all mounted on a graduated rail.
Procedure
First, check to see that all the electrical components are plugged in. Set the digital thermometer
selector switch to "<200C". Turn on the cooling water. Set the power meter selector dial to .03 and
zero the meter for ambient conditions. Record the ambient temperature. Switch on the transformer and
the safety box. Set the transformer to 120 V. As the temperature increases we record the temperature
and power meter readings at 25C intervals when the temperature exceeds 200C you will need to
change the thermometer selector switch to ">200C". When the temperature reaches a value between
350C and 400^C rotate the transformer dial to zero and switch it off. Then record temperatures and
power meter readings at 25 degree intervals as the temperature falls back to room temperature. Since
we must account for both the energy emitted by the blackbody and the energy absorbed by the body we
use the value T4 - T04 to calculate the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. Also, we must calculate power per
unit area and account for the emissivity of the burnished brass. For this experiment e = 0.61. [5].
Conclusions
Make plots of your data and compute the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. Discuss sources of error and do
an error analysis.
[1] M. Sprackling, Thermal Physics (American Institute of Physics, New York, New York 10025, 1991).
[2] A. dAbro, The Rise of the New Physics (Dover Publications, Mineola, New York 11501, 1951).
[3] G. Gamow, Thirty Years That Shook Physics (Dover Publications, Mineola, New York 11501, 1966).
[4] E. Weisstein, ed. Eric Weisstein's World of Physics (World Wide Web, http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/,
2007).
[5] D. R. Lide, ed. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1993).
[6] Serway and Jewett, Physics for Scientists and Engineers (Thomson, Brookw/Cole, Pacific Grove, CA, 2003).
[7] Tipler and Llewellyn, Modern Physics (Freeman, NY, NY, 2003)

UMKC, Department of Physics

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Modern Physics Stefan-Boltzmann

Scientech 361 power meter

Digital thermometer sensor

Oven and accessory shield

Safety box
UMKC, Department of Physics

Scientech 361 power meter sensor

Digital thermometer

Variable autotransformer

All components assembled

3 of 3
Modern Physics Stefan-Boltzmann

LEYBOLD
Physics
Leaflets

Optics
Light Intensity
Laws of radiation

P5.5.2.1

Stefan-Boltzmann law :
measuring the radiant intensity
of a black body
as a function of temperature

Objects of the experiment

C onducting relative measurements of the radiant intensity of an electric oven with the black body accessory
in the temperature range from 300750 K using a Molls thermopile.
Graphing the relationship between the radiant intensity and the absolute temperature to confirm
the Stefan-Boltzmann law.

Principles
The Stefan-Boltzmann law states that the total emitted radiation of a black body increases proportionally to the absolute
temperature T raised to the fourth power. More precisely, the
radiant exitance M, i. e. the total power radiated on one side of
the surface with reference to the area of the radiating surface,
is defined as

All bodies radiate heat. The intensity of this thermally excited

electromagnetic radiation increases with the temperature of
the body, and is also dependent on the surface of this body.
At a given wavelength, the more heat a body radiates, the
better it can absorb this radiation.
A body which completely absorbs heat radiation of all
wavelengths is called a black body. It was Kirchhoff who first
proposed using a cavity as a virtually ideal black body. The
black body has the greatest absorption factor, and thus, at a
given temperature and wavelength, the highest possible emissivity as well.

M = ! T4
(! = 5.67 10 8

(I)
W 4
K Stefan-Boltzmann constant)
m2

At the same time, the black body absorbs radiation from its
environment. Thus, we do not measure the total radiated
radiant exitance M, but rather the radiant exitance M withdrawn from the black body by radiation. The radiant exitance
absorbed from the environment is
M0 = ! T04

(II)

Therefore, it follows that

M = ! (T4 T04)

(III).

In this experiment, an electric oven with a black body accessory is used as the black body. The black body accessory
consists of a burnished brass cylinder and a screen. The brass
cylinder, which is sealed at one end, is slid into the electric oven
and heated to the desired temperature. The screen, which can
be water-cooled if necessary, is arranged in front of the electric
oven, so that essentially only the thermal radiation of the
burnished cylinder is measured, and not the outer wall of the
hot oven. An NiCr-Ni temperature sensor is used to measure
the temperature at the brass cylinder.

0706-Wit

The thermal radiation is measured using a Molls thermopile to

which a microvoltmeter is connected. The thermopile contains
a number of thermocouples connected in series. The measuring points absorb the incident radiation almost completely,
while the comparison points are at the ambient temperature.
We can thus take the output voltage of the thermopile as a
relative measure of the radiant exitance M".

P5.5.2.1

LEYBOLD Physics Leaflets

Interference radiation can be caused by:
direct radiation of body heat on the thermopile,
reflection of radiation at reflecting surfaces (e. g. light-colored
clothing),
radiators,
sunlight
and other light sources.

Apparatus
1 Electric furnace, 230 V . . . . . . . . . . .
1 Black body accessory . . . . . . . . . . .
1 Support for electric oven . . . . . . . . . .

555 81
389 43
555 84

1 Digital thermometer with one input . . . . .

1 Temperature sensor, NiCr-Ni . . . . . . . .

666 190
666 193

1 Molls thermopile . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 Microvoltmeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

557 36
532 13

1
1
4
1

460 43
300 01
301 01
666 555

Small optical bench . . . .

Large stand base, V-shape
Leybold multiclamps . . .
Universal clamp S . . . . .

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Allow the microvoltmeter to warm up for at least 10 minutes

before starting the experiment.
Switch on the microvoltmeter via the mains switch on the rear
of the device.
Fig. 1 shows the experiment setup.

C onnecting leads
Additionally recommended:
1 Immersion pump for liquids . . . . . . . .
2 Silicone tubing, i.d. 7 1.5 mm, 1 m . . . .

When using water cooling:

Attach the silicone tubing to the immersion pump and the

306 98
667 194

1 Water vessel, approx. 10 l

screen so that the inflow is at the bottom hose nipple and

the outflow is at the top hose nipple of the screen.
Fill the water vessel with water and attach the immersion
pump to the rim of the water vessel e. g. using the mounting
clamp so that the inlet opening is completely submerged
and the maximum immersion depth of 17 cm is not
exceeded (see Fig. 2; refer to the Instruction Sheet for a
description of another mounting possibility).

Setup
Notes:
Then:

The intensity to be measured is very low; as a result, the

measurement is extremely susceptible to interference from
environmental influences:
Never touch the thermopile with your hand during the measurement.
Do not work close to the thermopile, and particularly not in front
of it.
Avoid drafts and variations in room temperature during the
experiment.
Avoid interfering radiation; if necessary, screen the assembly
with cardboard.
Darken the room if necessary.

Set up the electric oven, the screen of the black body

accessory and the thermopile as shown in Fig. 1 so that the
rod of the thermopile is about 15 cm in front of the opening
of the electric oven. The screen of the black body accessory should be positioned about 5 10 mm in front of the
electric oven, with the metal side facing the thermopile.
Note: the glass window absorbs long-wave radiation more than
short-wave radiation, and thus systematically falsifies the
temperature-dependent measurement of radiant intensity.

Remove the glass window of the thermopile.

C onnect the NiCr-Ni temperature sensor to the digital

Safety notes
Danger of burns: the outer wall of the electric oven can
exceed 200 #C .

Avoid burning your skin on the hot electric oven.

O nly operate the electric oven on its support.
Read the Instruction Sheet for the electric oven carefully, and observe all instructions.

Water which penetrates the motor of the immersion pump

can cause a short-circuit.

Do not exceed an immersion depth of 17 cm.

Do not rest the wet immersion pump on its head after
operation.
Read the Instruction Sheet for the immersion pump
carefully, and observe all instructions.

thermometer and insert it in the small central hole in the

burnished brass cylinder as far as it will go.
Mount the temperature sensor in place with the universal
clamp S and switch on the digital thermometer (measuring
range > 200 #C).
Align the openings of the electric oven, the screen of the
black body accessory and the thermopile so that the radiant heat is directly incident on the opening of the thermopile.
If you are using water cooling, switch on the immersion
pump now.
C onnect the thermopile to the microvoltmeter as shown in
Fig. 1 (measuring range 10 4 V); make sure the red socket
on the thermopile is connected to the red socket on the
microvoltmeter.
C ompensate the offset by pressing the key auto comp; if
necessary, carry out the fine adjustment using the potentiometer to set the digital display to zero (see Instruction
Sheet for the microvoltmeter).

P5.5.2.1

LEYBOLD Physics Leaflets

Fig. 1:

E xp eriment setup for confirming the la w of ra diation a c cording to Stefan and B oltzmann.
The position d ata refer to the left sid e of the Leybold multiclamps on the small optic al b ench

Carrying out the experiment

Fig. 2:

First:

S etup example for mounting the immersion pump on the

w ater vessel

Measure the temperature $ of the brass cylinder and the

initial output voltage U of the thermopile and write these
values in your experiment log.
Then:

Switch on the electric oven; for each temperature increase

of 25 #C , write the measured values $ and U in your
experiment log.
When the temperature reaches a level between 400 #C and
500 #C :

Switch off the electric oven; for each temperature decrease

of 25 #C , write the measured values $ and U in your

experiment log.
When the temperature reaches a level between 100 #C and
room temperature, remove the temperature sensor from
the electric oven, measure the room temperature and write
this value in your experiment log.
Screen the thermopile with dark cardboard, check the zero
point of the voltmeter and write this value in your experiment log.

P5.5.2.1

LEYBOLD Physics Leaflets

Measuring example and evaluation

Table 1: Measured values for heating and cooling
T4 T04
K4

U
mV

U
mV

323

0.31

0.06

0.06

75

348

0.69

0.14

0.14

100

373

1.16

0.24

0.24

125

398

1.73

0.36

0.36

150

423

2.42

0.52

0.51

175

448

3.25

0.70

0.68

200

473

4.23

0.91

0.89

225

498

5.37

1.16

1.13

250

523

6.70

1.43

1.41

275

548

8.24

1.75

1.72

300

573

10.00

2.11

2.07

325

598

12.01

2.50

2.46

350

623

14.29

2.93

2.90

375

648

16.85

3.42

3.38

400

673

19.74

3.95

3.92

425

698

22.96

4.53

4.50

450

723

26.55

5.17

5.17

$
#C

T
K

24

297

50

Fig. 3:

Gra ph of the output voltage U as a function of T 4 T 0 4 .

The circles correspond to the me asure d values for he ating,
and the triangles re present the values for cooling

Fig. 3 shows the output voltage U of the thermopile as a

function of the difference between the absolute oven temperature T and the absolute room temperature T0 , each raised to
the fourth power. This relationship is a close approximation of
a straight line, as predicted by the Stefan-Boltzmann law. When
we examine this curve closely, we can recognize a slight
deviation from our best-fit straight line, which is the result of
the following effects: the measurement with the thermopile is
affected by convection and radiant losses to the environment,
especially when the glass window is removed. Also, we cannot
completely rule out increasing heat build-up in the comparison
points of the thermopile as the oven temperature increases.

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