XAVIER UNIVERSITY ATENEO DE CAGAYAN

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

ACTIVITY NO. 7: RADIATION EXPERIMENTS:

STEFAN-BOLTZMANN LAW AND INVERSE SQUARE
LAW OF HEAT
ChE -34 A: Unit Operations Laboratory

Date Conducted: Nov. 25, 2014

Submitted by:
Al Drexie S. Basadre*
Roxl Rhyann F. Fallore
Rene Rey B. Mondia
Group 2

201031294
20111998
201014388

Submitted to: Edwin Richard Ortiz

Date Submitted: Dec. 2, 2014

RADIATION EXPERIMENTS:STEFAN-BOLTZMANN
LAW AND INVERSE SQUARE LAW OF HEAT
Abstract
The experiment aims to determine the relationship of the intensity of radiation to
the source temperature and its distance to the surface. To investigate the relationship
between the said variables, a thermal radiation setup was built. Observing the
relationship derived to calculate qb, it was proven that the intensity of radiation is
proportional to the source temperature. Thus, it is concluded that intensity is directly
proportional to source temperature and thus affirming the Stefan-Boltzmann law. For the
second experiment, it was proven that the intensity of radiation is inversely proportional
to the square of distance as evidently seen in the data gathered thus affirming the
inverse square law. Also, the Stefan-Boltzmann law gave a percentage difference
ranging from 46.49 to 53.71%.

Introduction
In this experiment, Stefan-Boltzmann law and inverse square law will be
investigated in a laboratory setup. The relationships of these equations will be tested
which paramters such as source temperature and distance will be investigated.
According to Stefan-Boltzmann law, when radiation falls on an object, a portion of the
radiation is reflected and the remainder is absorbed. Dark objects absorb more radiation
than light so usually have higher emissivity values. Lighter objects are better reflectors.
Just as the Stefan-Boltzmann law describes how radiation emission varies with
temperature, the radiation absorbed, Rabs, can be described by: Rabs = P/A = aT4,
where a is the coefficient of absorption and, like the emissivity, varies between 0 and 1.
When a hot object is in surroundings at a lower temperature, it emits more radiation
than it absorbs. Inverse square law, on the other hand, states that the radiation flux from
a point source varies as one over the square of the distance from the source

Theoretical Background
The StefanBoltzmann law, also known as Stefan's law, describes the power
radiated from a black body in terms of its temperature. Specifically, the Stefan
Boltzmann law states that the total energy radiated per unit surface area of a black
body across all wavelengths per unit time (also known as the black-body radiant
exitance or emissive power), , is directly proportional to the fourth power of the black
body's thermodynamic temperature T:
(equation 1)
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

(equation 2)
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 is 5.67 W/m2, at 1000 K 56,700 W/m2, etc.
In the experiment, the amount of heat transferred per unit time per area
throughout a given distance is being measured. To be able to measure it, equation 1 is
manipulated in a form that shows the difference in the temperature of the source of heat
(Ts) and the temperature of the surroundings (TA). The final equation used is
(equation 3)
In physics, an inverse-square law is any physical law stating that a specified
physical quantity or intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from
the source of that physical quantity. In equation form:

(equation 4)
The divergence of a vector field which is the resultant of radial inverse-square
law fields with respect to one or more sources is everywhere proportional to the strength
of the local sources, and hence zero outside sources. Newton's law of universal
gravitation follows
an
inverse-square
law,
as
do
the
effects
of
electric, magnetic, light, sound, and radiation phenomena.

Figure 1. Representation of the flux (lines) emanating from the source(S).

Procedure
A. Stefan- Boltzmann Law

B. Inverse Square Law of Heat

Set the power control to

maximum position

Set power control to mid

position and allow the heater
to reach a stable
temperature for 15 mins.

Put the black plate 50 mm

away from the heat source
Put the radiometer 800 mm
away from the heat source.
Adjust the position of the
radiometer 200 mm away
from the black plate

Record the radiometer

reading at specific distance
from the heat source for a
number of positions.
Stabilize the radiometer for
2 mins every after
repositioning

Select increments of
increasing temperature to
maximum within practical
range.

Record both readings of

temperature and
radiometer reading

Record results

Results
A. Stefan-Boltzmann Law
qb = 11.07 x R W/m2
509.22

qb = (Ts4 TA4) W/m2

293.61012

% Difference
53.71245

564.57

338.48682

50.07064

619.92

385.36868

46.66348

697.41

434.31454

46.49461

Table 1. Experimental and Theoretical intensity and %difference

From Table 1, qb is the heat flow per unit area of the black surface. The obtained values
were from Stefan Boltzmann Law where:
= Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5.676x10-8
)
Ts = source temperature of radiometer and surrounding
TA = Temperature of radiometer and surrounding
B. Inverse Square Law of Heat
Table 2. log Distance (X) vs. log Radiometer Reading (R)
log X
2.90309
2.875061
2.845098
2.812913
2.778151
2.740363
2.69897
2.667453
2.60206

log R
1.146128
1.230449
1.278754
1.342423
1.380211
1.447158
1.544068
1.568202
1.690196

Table 2 shows the relationship between the R and X with equivalent log values.
1.8
1.6
1.4
log R

1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
2.55

2.6

2.65

2.7

2.75

2.8

2.85

2.9

log X

Figure 1. Plot of log radiometer reading vs. log distance

Figure 1 shows the relationship between log of reading and log of distance.

2.95

Discussion of Results
A. Stefan-Boltzmann Constant
In this experiment, the relationship between the intensity of radiation and the source
of temperature was investigated. Also, the distance was set constant. The value of qb
could be calculated using two equations. One of which is with respect to radiometer
reading and 11.07 value which was the view factor. Other equation was with respect to
the source temperature of radiometer and surrounding and temperature of radiometer
and surrounding. So to put this in equation, the first equation would be:
qb = 11.07 x R
Also, the other equation used was in this form.
qb = (TS4 TA4)
Where is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant.
In the experiment, the black plate was placed 50 mm away from the heating
source. So, the heat from this source was absorbed by this black plate and some of this
heat was transmitted to radiation. This radiation was then measured by the radiometer
200 mm away from the black plate. The second equation should have the term but the
black plate was a black body and was assumed that all heat absorbed was transmitted
to radiation. Thus, the value of when it was a black body is 1.
From the calculated values, it was evident that as the source temperature
increases, the intensity of radiation would also increase. The values acquired from first
and second equation was different but still they have the same increasing trend. The
values should be near to each other or the same if those two equations were used. The
very big deviations of the results acquired were due to some errors that have been done
in this experiment. First was that it would be an instrument error. Meaning, the reading
of the instrument might not be accurate. Second was that emissivity value for this
experiment might not be accurately equal to 1. Lastly, it would be a personal error. The
reading of the distance that was done by the experimenter might not be accurate.
B. Inverse Square Law of Heat
This experiment differs from the first part of the experiment since the relationship
between the intensity of radiation and distance of radiometer from the source was
investigated. The source was allowed to emit radiation for about 15 min to stabilize
before the reading was taken and adjust it to another distance. The temperature in this
experiment was set to constant and it was equal to 294.15 K. The reading of the
radiometer was taken and tabulated in table 1. Also, their log values were acquired and
plotted in figure 2.

From the graph between log radiometer reading and log distance, it was
observed that a nearly straight line was produced which has a negative slope. So, the
relationship between the two parameters being plotted on the graph is inversely
proportional. It means when the distance increases, the radiometer reading decreases.
The relationship between the intensity and the distance was:
Intensity
Thus, it was really inversely proportional from the start. Then putting log both
sides of the equation and letting k be the constant;
log intensity = -2 log Distance + log k
This would be the theoretical equation. From the graph plotted in figure 2, the
slope acquired was equal to -1.74 which was nearly equal to -2. Also its coefficient of
linearity is equal to 0.994 which implies that it was a nearly straight line. Thus, this
verifies the inverse square relationship between the distance and intensity of radiation.
The inverse square law states that the intensity of radiation is inversely
proportional to the square of the distance from the source. The inverse square law
generally applies when some of the force, energy, or other quantity was evenly radiated
outward from a point source in three-dimensional space.
The results acquired from this experiment might not be accurate due to some
errors that have been done in the experiment. First was instrument error. The
instrument might not be accurate in recording the values. Another error was personal
error. The distance that the radiometer was placed might not be accurate.

Conclusion and recommendation

From the results of the data acquired and further study, it was proven in the first
part of the experiment that the intensity of radiation is proportional to the source
temperature and it is observable in table 1. It is also observable in two equations that
are used to calculate qb. So to put this in simplest form:
Intensity source temperature
Also, it was also proven from the second experiment that the intensity of radiation
is inversely proportional to the square of distance. This is evident in the data gathered.
So, when the distance of the radiometer decreases, the intensity of radiation increases.
Thus, to explain this in simplest form:
Intensity

In this experiment, no recommendation would be stated for the equipment since

all of the needed data could be gathered in the instrument. The ambient temperature
could be read in the thermocouple 2 and the value was reliable. But in the experiment
paper that was given to us, the units of radiometer reading were not right. It is
recommended to edit the experiment paper.

Literature Cited
-

Boltzmann
Law.
(n.d.).
Retrieved
December
1,
2014,
from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan%E2%80%93Boltzmann_law
Inverse Square Law. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse-square_law
Transport Processes and Unit Operations, Geankoplis, C J., 3rd edition, 1978. p.
281 - 284

Nomenclature
-qb is heat
- is Stefan-Boltzmann constant
-Ts is Source Temperature
-TA is Ambient Temperature
- is the black-body radiant exitance or emissive power

Appendices
A.1 Raw Data
o

Temperature ( C)

READINGS
Radiometer Reading
(R) (W/m2)

65
70
75
80
Data for Stefan-Boltzmann Law

46
51
56
63

Ts, K

TA, K

338.15
343.15
348.15
353.15

298.15
298.15
298.15
298.15

Distance X (mm)

Radiometer Reading R (W/m2)

800
750
700
650
600
550
500
465
400
Data for Inverse Square Law of Heat

14
17
19
22
24
28
35
37
49

A.2 Analysis of Data and Sample Calculation

Calculation of qb
qb = F *R
F = (.0632 + L2)/0.0632
F = (0.0632 + 0.22)/0.0632
F = 11.07
qb = 11.07 *46
qb = 509.22 W/m2
qb = (TS4 TA4)
qb = 5.676x10-8 (338.154 298.154)
qb = 293.61012 W/m2
% Diff =

%Diff = 53.71%
For getting the slope of the line of the plotted graph of log R vs. log X, Programs like
Microsoft Excel or a scientific calculator was used.
log R = log 14 = 1.146128
log X = log 800 = 2.90309
Also, the regression of the line could be acquired by Microsoft excel or a scientific
calculator.