Blackbody Radiation
- At the end of the 19th century one of the most intriguing puzzles in physics was the spectrum of radiation emitted by a hot object known as a blackbody ( a perfect radiator).
- Wein's Law says that the peak wavelength in the blackbody spectrum is inversely proportional to the Kelvin temperature of the blackbody:
| T |
= |
| 2.90 x 10-3
|  |
| lpeak
|
|
In the late 1800's the theory predicted that an infinite amount of energy was emitted at short wavelengths by a blackbody. This was called the ultraviolet catastrophe.