Blackbody Experiment

LEOI-63 Blackbody Experiment

1 Theory of Blackbody
1.1 Blackbody Radiation
Any object with a temperature higher than absolute zero radiates to
its surrounding environment and this radiation is called thermal

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radiation. Blackbody is a perfect thermal radiation object, meaning
that the radiation flux of any non-blackbody is less than that of a
blackbody at the same temperature. Furthermore, the radiation
ability of a non-blackbody depends not only on its temperature, but
also on the characteristics of its surface material. By contrast, the
radiation ability of a blackbody depends solely on its temperature.
Moreover, the radiation of a blackbody is uniform with no directivity
and thus a blackbody is a perfect Lambertian radiator. Any other
object whose radiation ability is less than that of a blackbody while
sharing a similar radiation spectrum, are called grey body.

1.2 Law of Blackbody Radiation

1.2.1 Spectral Distribution of Blackbody-Planck's Law of Blackbody Radiation
Plancks Law describes the radiant emittance of a perfect blackbody as
a function of its temperature and the wavelength of the emitted
radiation

where C1 is the first radiation constant (3.7410-16 Wm2), C2 is the

second radiation constant (1.439810-2 mK). The intensity of
blackbody radiation is given by following:

Figure 1 Spectral radiance of thermal emitters at unit emissivity

derived from Plancks equation. These curves give the radiance of a
blackbody at various temperatures (in degrees Kelvin)

1.2.2 Integration of Blackbody Radiation - Stefan-Boltzmann Law

The total intensity emitted by a blackbody at absolute temperature T is

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described by the Stefan-Boltzmann law:

where is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant

where k is the Boltzmann constant, h is the Planck constant, and c is the

speed of light in vacuum. Because blackbody radiation is uniform with
no directivity, the radiation intensity of a blackbody depends on radiant
emittance as

Then the Stefan-Boltzmann Law can be expressed in terms of radiation

intensity

1.2.3 Wiens Displacement Law

According to Wiens displacement law, a peak wavelength at which the

emitted intensity per wavelength interval by a blackbody is the largest,
is inversely proportional to the absolute temperature of the blackbody.

where A is constant (2.89610-3 mK). As the temperature increases,

the peak wavelength of the absolute blackbody emission shifts to
shorter wavelengths.

2. Experimental Apparatus
LEOI-63 blackbody experimental apparatus is composed of grating
monochromator, receiver unit, scanning system, electronic amplifier,
A/D acquisition unit, Bromine-Tungsten light source with adjustable
voltage regulator, computer, and printer. This apparatus integrates
optics, precision mechanics, electronics, and computer technology in
one system.

As shown in Figure 2, the main unit of the apparatus consists of grating

monochromators, slit, receiver unit, optical system, and grating driving
mechanism.

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Figure 2 Description of experimental apparatus

A Bromine-Tungsten light source with voltage adjustable regulator is

used as the light source. The rated voltage is 12 V and the adjustable
range is from 2 to 12 V. A description of the power supply of the
Bromine-Tungsten lamp is given in Figure 3, while the description of the
Bromine-Tungsten lamp with attachment instruction to the
monochromators is given in Figure 4.

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Figure 3 Front (a) and back (b) panel of power supply of Bromine-
Tungsten lamp

Figure 4 Illustration of Bromine-Tungsten lamp attached to

monochromator (a) and description of Bromine-Tungsten lamp

The operation of the spectrometer is controlled by the electrical control

box shown in Figure 5. The data acquired and control feedback signal
are transmitted to a computer via the USB port.

Figure 5 Front (a) and back (b) panel of electrical control box

3 Experiments
3.1 Content of Experiments
1. Verify the Plancks law of radiation
2. Verify the Stefan-Boltzmann Law
3. Verify the Wiens Displacement Law
at one selected temperature (Suggested temperatures, including
2770K, 2600K or 2500K)

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3.2 Software Operation Procedures Description ( Take 2940
K condition for example )
Click LEOI-63 Blackbody Experimental System icon to start the
program, then the user interface appears with a dialog window poped
up as shown in Figure 6. This dialog window allows user to verify the
current wavelength location and whether to initialize the system. Click
Cancel, then the system will be initialized and 800 nm wavelength
location will be reached.

Please wait and do not click any buttons on the software until the
initialization process is finished.

Figure 6 Dialog window for system initialization

Next, the user interface window appears as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7 User interface window of application software

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3.2.1 Build Transfer Function Curve

When recording the radiation spectrum of an emissive source, the

spectrometer used is affected by different spectral response
coefficients of various optical elements and receivers used by the
spectrometer. The overall response curve is a function of wavelength,
called the transfer function of the spectrometer. To remove the effect of
system transfer function, a standard Bromine-Tungsten light source
with calibrated energy curve is provided in this system. A standard
energy curve of the light source at temperature 2940 K is stored in the
software. Take the following procedures to build
the transfer function.

1. Set the work current of the light source to the value at 2940 K in the
table (Attached on the surface of the Monochromator)

2. Preheat the lamp for 20 minutes, make sureTransfer

Functionand Blackbody
Correctionare unchecked, select channel-1, as follows

At the left of the software interface, set parameters as follows, select

Baseline mode:

and then click Single on menu to record the full-band

spectrum of the lamp at this condition. The recorded spectral curve
contains the effect of system transfer function.

a. Typically, the peak of transfer curve will below/above value 4000. If

the peak of transfer curve is not near 4000, click the stop button
,then click the Go to button

In the input form, put the number 800, then press OK button to
initial.

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Carefully tune the Input Slit clockwisely/Anti-clockwisely. Typically, we

slowly rotate the Input Slit 1 to 2 units each time to make the peak of
the transfer curve gradually reach the value 4000. After tuning the
Input Slit, then click the Single button as before, check the peak of
the transfer curve is near 4000 or not.
If not, repeat the procedure a and tune the Input Slit again, until the
peak of the transfer curve is near 4000.

When the peak of the transfer curve is near 4000, the transfer curve is
as follow:

Tune this slit to make the

peak of curve near 4000

3. When the transfer curve is acquired, click the menu of Radiation

Law, and then select the command of Calculate transfer function.
You will see a Warning as follow, click . The transfer function can
be acquired by dividing the acquired spectrum with the known energy
curve of the light source and saved automatically.

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Then you will see the input form, put the number 1 into it, and click
.

3.2.2 Acquire Measurement Curves

To perform the measurement, firstly select the Channel 2, check the

Transfer Functionand Blackbody Correction, as follow

Set the parameters on the left-side as follow, select Energy Mode

After parameters are set, click Measure button ,, input

temperature, in this example, is 2940K. Press OK button to proceed.
Wait for the measurement curve to be complete, do not press
Cancel button as shown in below form:

In this 2940K example, the finish measurement curve is as follow:

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Then click the menu of Radiation Law, and select the command of
Normalized Treatments. You will see a Info as follow, click .
Important: Input the number 3 into the following form

After those procedures, a normalized curve (third curve) will appear, as

follow.

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Then select the channel 4

Then click the menu of Radiation Law, and select the command of
Theory spectrum of Absolute blackbody. In this example, we
input 2949 K in the Input Temperature form

After those procedures, a theory spectrum of absolute blackbody will

appear, The more it coincide with the Normalized Curve, the better it
will be.

The complete set curves at 2940 K example appear as follows:

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3.2.3 Verify the Plancks law of radiation

Click the menu of Radiation Law, and select the command of Planck
radiation law. By running this command, a popup window appears
as shown below. By clicking the OK tab, a cursor seen as appears
in the work area. By left clicking the mouse to select a peak data on
the Normalized Curve. The press the Enter key in the keyboard, a
popup window appears as follows, then press the Calculate button on
the popup window to get the Theoretical value the radiant emittance
of a perfect blackbody.

Selected
Data

3.2.3 Verify the Stefan-Boltzmann law

Click the menu of Radiation Law, and select the command of

Stefan-Boltzmann law.

By running this command, a popup window appears. Select Channel

-3,

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By selecting the desired channel and hitting the OK tab, a popup

window appears as shown below. To verify Stefan-Boltzmann Law, the
wavelength range used can be either from 0 to or from start
wavelength to end wavelength. If tab is clicked, then spectral data
beyond selected wavelength range will be extrapolated using the
theoretical data of a blackbody at the same temperature; if No tab is
clicked, then only the data within selected wavelength range will be
used. In this experiment, Click , finally, a popup window appears as
shown below displaying the calculated results.

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Compare the Calculated value the theoretical Stefan-Boltzmann law
constant.

3.2.4 Verify the Wiens Displacement Law

Click the menu of Radiation Law, and select the command of

Wiens Displacement Law.
By running this command, a popup window appears. Select Channel
-3,

3.3 Save the experimental data

Click the Save button , select source channel number and tick
Save text (.txt), finally choose the save file destination and click
. In case during operation, the software may be crashed, your
data will be gone if you not saved properly after experimental data

Important, to save all the data information at one particular

temperature condition, we have to repeat above mentioned procedure
4 times, namely baseline, measurement curve, normalized curve and
theory spectrum of absolute blackbody, each time select different
channel to save perspective data.

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3.2.4 Analysis the data, finish the lab report accordingly.

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