Lecture 33, March 26, 2004

• Project Due Date Last day of classes

o Jackson Cluster is available even if McLaughlin is not
• Reminder – Quiz Tuesday (from last quiz to ch12
assignment)

Introduction to Radiation (Ch12)

All substances continuously emit electromagnetic

radiation due to molecular and atomic agitation
associated with the internal energy of the material. In
the equilibrium state this energy is proportional to the
temperature of the material. The emitted radiant
energy can range from radio waves which can have
wavelengths of 10s of metres to cosmic rays which
have wavelengths < 10-14 metres. We are interested
in radiation that is detected as heat or light which
occupies an intermediate wavelength range.

Radiation propagates in a vacuum at the speed of

light ( c = λν) = 3 x 108 m/s
λ – wavelength [m]
ν – frequency [1/s]

Thermal radiation 0.1 < λ < 100 µm

Visible radiation 0.35 < λ < 0.75 µm

Although radiant energy surrounds us constantly, we

are not overly aware of it because our bodies are very
poor detectors of thermal radiation. Our eyes on the
other hand are extremely sensitive to this radiation in
a the very narrow range of visible radiation. If we stop
to think a little, however, we realize that our skin is to
some degree a detector of thermal radiation, but we
really need additional equipment to measure thermal
radiation.

We are aware of thermal radiation in certain cases,

and we notice in several cases that temperatures far
exceed the local ambient temperatures when
radiation is important. Recall
• Walking on a beach in the sun
• Getting into a car in the sun
• Frost appearing on the ground when the
ambient T is above 0

Radiation is very different from conduction and

convection in that
• It does not need a medium to travel (travels
through vacuum)
• Depends on the absolute temperature differences
to the fourth power (compared to the first power)
• Can have significant variations with wavelength
• It depends strongly on surface properties

Radiation will therefore be more important at higher

temperatures as in furnaces, combustion chambers,
nuclear reactors and high T fuel cells. There are
significant applications where it must also be
considered at much lower temperatures (greenhouse
example).

Solar radiation is also the toughest design constraint

on both vehicle cooling systems and window systems.

Ice forming above 0oC is also a clear example of the

importance of radiation even at low temperatures, as
is the fact that windows have a chilling effect on us as
our bodies radiate energy out to the cooler
environment without receiving compensating radiation
in return. Simply drawing the blinds will stop this
effect immediately as the blinds act as a radiation
shield and block the radiative heat transfer from our
bodies.

Radiation interacts with the other modes of heat

transfer by raising of lowering surface temperatures
and for example generating free convection flows that
would not otherwise exist.

Solar energy is also very important and, photovoltaics

aside the energy is used to heat domestic hot water
and to generate electricity (steam turbines, solar
chimneys). A well designed solar collector functions
at temperatures of a few hundred degrees above
ambient.

Radiation incident upon a surface and either be

absorbed, reflected or transmitted through the
surface, and all of these phenomena can depend on
both direction (directional distribution) and wavelength
(spectral distribution).

Absorbed radiation is converted to internal energy,

raising the temperature, and hence affects the
emission of radiation from the surface as well.

Emission from a black body

It can be demonstrated that (2nd law of

thermodynamics) that there is a maximum amount of
energy that can be radiated at a given T and lambda.
A body emitting this maximum possible amount is
termed a black body. Let us define the spectral
emissive power of a blackbody in terms of frequency