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Incandescence vs black-body radiation

Physics Asked by Mephane on July 9, 2021

So in a discussion today I wanted to show someone the relationship between a star’s color and their surface temperature.

Expecting to find a chart such as this one, I first found this one instead. The first one is from the Wikipedia article on black-body radiation, the second one from the article on incandescence.

I found myself unable to explain how both charts could exist and be true at the same time, even though I was sure there must be clear connection between the two.

Now I know the first one is definitely correct and used in practice for objects such as stars, the second one is used for objects such as glowing metals, and both scales apply to objects regardless of the chemical elements they consist of, i.e. their are both only a function of temperature.

Now even after a bit of googling I have found myself unable to reconcile both charts with each other. I am sure there is a relationship between the two, since both incandescence and black-body radiation are (as far as I understand it) defined as “the light emitted by an object due to its temperature” (as opposed to chemical reactions like in fire, quantum effects like in LEDs).

So the questions is: in which way are incandescence and black-body radation, and therefore their temperatur-to-color-scales, related to each other (until today I thought they were one and the same)?

2 Answers

There is no inconsistency between the charts. The second chart is just a zoom on a portion of the first one. As mentioned by dmckee, the unites are also different.

Answered by Miladiouss on July 9, 2021

Incandescence usually refers specifically to visible light, while thermal radiation or black body radiation refers also to infrared or any other electromagnetic radiation. So, incandescence is a special case of blackbody radiation [source:wikipedia] [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescence

Answered by Aditya Aryan on July 9, 2021

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