1.9 - Absorbing & Emitting Radiation

How temperature changes the radiation curve

• An object emits radiation across a continuous range of wavelengths.
• How that radiation is spread across wavelengths depends on the object's temperature.

As the temperature increases

1. The intensity of every wavelength increases.
2. The intensity increases more rapidly for shorter wavelengths than for longer ones.
3. The peak wavelength (the wavelength emitted with the highest intensity) decreases, shifting the peak towards shorter wavelengths.

Visible changes with heating

• At everyday temperatures, the peak wavelength lies in the infrared.
• As an object gets hotter, it begins to glow red and then white as more of its radiation moves into the visible light spectrum.