Black-body radiation

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/black-body-radiation

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is a black body?A black body is a perfect absorber and emitter of light, taking in all light that hits it and then giving off light in a special pattern that depends only on its temperature.
2. Why did old physics predict infinite energy for black bodies?Classical physics said that the amount of light a black body gives off should keep getting bigger as the light's frequency gets higher, which would mean it would release endless energy, but that never happens in reality.

Spectral Radiance: The amount of power radiated by a unit surface area into a unit solid angle at a particular wavelength.
Quanta: Discrete, indivisible packets of energy, the fundamental units of quantum theory.
Absolute Temperature: Temperature measured on a scale where zero is absolute zero, the theoretical point of minimum thermal energy (Kelvin scale).