Absorptivity

In science, the term absorptivity (or absorptance) may refer to:

Molar absorptivity, in chemistry, a measurement of how strongly a chemical species absorbs light at a given wavelength

Absorbance, in physics, the fraction of radiation absorbed at a given wavelength Reflectivity, the fraction of incident radiation reflected by a surface Transmittance, the fraction of incident electromagnetic radiation at a specified wavelength that passes through a sample

absorption coefficient - a measure of the rate of decrease in the intensity of electromagnetic radiation (as light) as it passes through a given substance; the fraction of incident radiant energy absorbed per unit mass or thickness of an absorber; "absorptance equals 1 minus transmittance" absorptance, coefficient of absorption coefficient - a constant number that serves as a measure of some property or characteristic

An ideal body is now defined, called a blackbody. A blackbody allows all incident radiation to pass into it (no reflected energy) and internally absorbs all the incident radiation (no energy transmitted through the body). This is true of radiation for all wavelengths and for all angles of incidence. Hence the blackbody is a perfect absorber for all incident radiation. A black body is an idealized physical body that absorbs all incidentelectromagnetic radiation, regardless of frequency or angle of incidence. A black body in thermal equilibrium (that is, at a constant temperature) emits electromagnetic radiation called black-body radiation. The radiation is emitted according to Planck's law, meaning that it has a spectrum that is determined by the temperature alone (see figure at right), not by the body's shape or composition. A black body in thermal equilibrium has two notable properties:
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1. It is an ideal emitter: it emits as much or more energy at every frequency than any other body at the same temperature. 2. It is a diffuse emitter: the energy is radiated isotropically, independent of direction. An approximate realization of a black surface is a hole in the wall of a large enclosure (see below). Any light entering the hole is reflected indefinitely or absorbed inside and is unlikely to re-emerge, making the hole a nearly perfect absorber. The radiation confined in such an enclosure may or may not be in thermal equilibrium, depending upon the nature of the walls and the other contents of the enclosure.
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Real materials emit energy at a fractioncalled the emissivityof black-body energy levels. By definition, a black body in thermal equilibrium has an emissivity of = 1.0. A source with lower emissivity

independent of frequency often is referred to as a gray body.

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Construction of black bodies with

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emissivity as close to one as possible remains a topic of current interest.

A white bodyis one with a

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"rough surface [that] reflects all incident rays completely and uniformly in all directions."

In astronomy, the radiation from stars and planets is sometimes characterized in terms of an effective temperature, the temperature of a black body that would emit the same total flux of electromagnetic energy. Diffuse Surface Device A lighting device that creates a soft, broad light.

What is a Photon? Answer: Under the photon theory of light, a photon is a discrete bundle (or quantum) of electromagnetic (or light) energy. Photons are always in motion and, in a vacuum, have a constant speed of light to all observers, at the vacuum speed of light (more commonly just called the speed of light) of c = 2.998 x 108 m/s. Basic Properties of Photons According to the photon theory of light, photons . . .

move at a constant velocity, c = 2.9979 x 108 m/s (i.e. "the speed of light"), in free space have zero mass and rest energy. carry energy and momentum, which are also related to the frequency nu and wavelength lamdba of the electromagnetic wave by E = h nu and p = h /lambda. can be destroyed/created when radiation is absorbed/emitted. can have particle-like interactions (i.e. collisions) with electrons and other particles, such as in the

A photon is an elementary particle, the quantum of light and all other forms ofelectromagnetic radiation, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force, even when static via virtual photons. The effects of this force are easily observable at both the microscopic and macroscopic level, because the photon has zero rest mass; this allows long distance interactions. Like all elementary particles, photons are currently best explained by quantum mechanics and exhibit waveparticle duality, exhibiting properties of both waves and particles. For example, a single photon may be refracted by a lens or exhibit wave interference with itself, but also act as a particle giving a definite result when its position is measured. Planck's law describes the electromagnetic radiation that pervades any medium, whatever its constitution, that is in thermodynamic equilibrium at a definite temperature. If the medium is of homogeneous and isotropic constitution, then the radiation is homogeneous, isotropic, unpolarized, andincoherent. The law is named after Max Planck, who originally proposed it in 1900. It is a pioneer result of modern physics and quantum theory. For frequency , or for wavelength , Planckian radiation can be described thus:

where B denotes its spectral radiance, T its absolute temperature, kB the Boltzmann constant, h the Planck constant, and c the speed of light in the medium, whether material or vacuum.
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The law may also be expressed in other terms, such as of the number of photons

emitted at a certain wavelength, or of the energy density in a volume of radiation. In the limit of low frequencies (i.e. long wavelengths), Planck's law tends to the RayleighJeans law, while in the limit of high frequencies (i.e. small wavelengths) it tends to theWien approximation. Max Planck developed the law in 1900, originally with only empirically determined constants, and later showed that, expressed as an energy distribution, it is the unique stable distribution for radiation in thermodynamic equilibrium. As an energy distribution, it is one of a family of thermal equilibrium distributions which include the BoseEinstein distribution, the FermiDirac distribution and the MaxwellBoltzmann distribution.
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Radiosity (heat transfer), in heat transfer, is the total radiation (reflected plus emitted) leaving a surface

StefanBoltzmann law
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia See also: Black body, Black body radiation, Planck's law, and Thermal radiation

Graph of a function of total emitted energy of a black body In blue is a total energy according to the Wien approximation, proportional to its thermodynamic temperature .

The StefanBoltzmann law , also known as Stefan's law, describes the power radiated from a black body in terms of its temperature. Specifically, the StefanBoltzmann law states that the total energy radiated per unit surface area of a black body across all wavelengthsper unit time (also known as the black-body radiant exitance or emissive power), power of the black body's thermodynamic temperature T: , is directly proportional to the fourth

The constant of proportionality , called the StefanBoltzmann constant or Stefan's constant, derives from other known constants of nature. The value of the constant is

where k is the Boltzmann constant, h is Planck's constant, and c is the speed of light in a vacuum. Thus at 100 K the energy flux density is 5.67 W/m2, at 1000 K 56,700 W/m2, etc. The radiance (watts per square metre per steradian) is equal to these values divided by .

A body that does not absorb all incident radiation (sometimes known as a grey body) emits less total energy than a black body and is characterized by an emissivity, :

The irradiance has dimensions of energy flux (energy per time per area), and the SI units of

measure are joules per second per square metre, or equivalently, watts per square metre. The SI unit for absolute temperature T is the kelvin. blackbody, wavelength, is the emissivity of the grey body; if it is a perfect

. In the still more general (and realistic) case, the emissivity depends on the . :

To find the total power radiated from an object, multiply by its surface area,

Metamaterials may be designed to exceed the StefanBoltzmann law.[1]