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2.7: Stefan's Law (The Stefan-Boltzmann Law)

  • Page ID
    8015
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    The total exitance integrated over all wavelengths or frequencies can be found by integrating Equations 2.6.1 - 2.6.4. Integration of 2.6.1 over wavelengths or of 2.6.3 over frequencies each, of course, gives the same result:

    \[M= \sigma T^4 \label{Stefan}\]

    where

    \[\sigma = \dfrac{2\pi^5 k^4}{15h^3 c^2} = 5.6705 \times 10^{-8} \ \text{W m}^{-2} \text{K}^4 \]

    Equation \ref{Stefan} is Stefan's Law, or the Stefan-Boltzmann law, and \(\sigma\) is Stefan's constant.

    Integration of Equation 2.6.2 over wavelengths or of 2.6.4 over frequencies each, of course, gives the same result:

    \[N = \rho T^3\]

    where

    \[\rho = \dfrac{4\pi \zeta (3) k^3}{h^3 c^2} = 1.5205 \times 10^{-8} \ \text{ph s}^{-1} \text{m}^{-2} \text{K}^{-3}\]

    Here \(\zeta(3)\) is the Riemann zeta-function:

    \[\zeta(3) = 1 + \left(\dfrac{1}{2}\right)^3+ \left(\dfrac{1}{3} \right)^3 + \left(\dfrac{1}{4} \right)^3 + ... = 1.202057\]


    This page titled 2.7: Stefan's Law (The Stefan-Boltzmann Law) is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jeremy Tatum via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.