Black Body Radiation

• All bodies (objects) emit and absorb infrared radiation.
• The quantity of infrared radiation emitted by an object increases as temperature increases.
• The amount of reflection of radiation into space is another factor that affects the temperature of the Earth.
• The Earth’s rate of absorption and emission of radiation is a factor that affects the temperature of the Earth.
• The hotter the object, the more infrared radiation it will emit.
• A perfect black body is an object that absorbs all of the radiation that is incident upon it.
• A perfect black body reflects or transmits no radiation.
• A perfect black body is the best possible emitter of radiation because it absorbs all radiation incident on it and is also a perfect emitter.
• Increasing the temperature of an object affects its emissions by changing the wavelength distribution, which is dependent on the object’s temperature.
• The rates of emission and absorption for a body at constant temperature are the same.
• A body at constant temperature is absorbing and emitting radiation at the same rate.
• The rates of emission and absorption for a body increasing in temperature are higher, as the body is absorbing radiation faster than it is emitting it.