Chapter 11

Fundamental of Radiation
 Course outline
 Laws of Radiation

Stefan Boltzman Law, Kirchoff Law

Relationship between Temperature, Frequency and Wavelength
Reflectivity, Absorbtivity and Transmissivity

 Black and Grey body radiation

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INTRODUCTION

The hot object in vacuum chamber will eventually cool down and reach thermal equilibrium
with its surroundings by a heat transfer mechanism: radiation.
Radiation differs from conduction and convection in that it does not require the presence of
a material medium to take place.
Radiation transfer occurs in solids as well as liquids and gases.

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Accelerated charges or changing electric currents give rise to electric and magnetic fields.
These rapidly moving fields are called electromagnetic waves or electromagnetic radiation,
and they represent the energy emitted by matter as a result of the changes in the electronic
configurations of the atoms or molecules.
Electromagnetic waves transport energy just like other waves and they are characterized by
their frequency  or wavelength . These two properties in a medium are related by
c = c0 /n
c, the speed of propagation of a wave in that medium
c0 = 2.9979108 m/s, the speed of light in a vacuum
n, the index of refraction of that medium
n =1 for air and most gases, n = 1.5 for glass, and n = 1.33 for water
It has proven useful to view electromagnetic radiation as the propagation of a collection of
discrete packets of energy called photons or quanta. In this view, each photon of frequency n
is considered to have an energy of
The energy of a photon is inversely
proportional to its wavelength.

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THERMAL RADIATION

The type of electromagnetic radiation that is pertinent to heat

transfer is the thermal radiation emitted as a result of energy
transitions of molecules, atoms, and electrons of a substance.
Temperature is a measure of the strength of these activities at
the microscopic level, and the rate of thermal radiation emission
increases with increasing temperature.
Thermal radiation is continuously emitted by all matter whose
temperature is above absolute zero.

Everything around us
constantly emits
thermal radiation.

The electromagnetic wave

spectrum.
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Light is simply the visible portion of the electromagnetic
spectrum that lies between 0.40 and 0.76 m.
A body that emits some radiation in the visible range
is called a light source. The sun is our primary light
source. The electromagnetic radiation emitted by the
sun is known as solar radiation, and nearly all of it
falls into the wavelength band 0.3–3 m. Almost half
of solar radiation is light (i.e., it falls into the visible
range), with the remaining being ultraviolet and
infrared.
The radiation emitted by bodies at room temperature falls into the infrared region of the
spectrum, which extends from 0.76 to 100 m. The ultraviolet radiation includes the low-
wavelength end of the thermal radiation spectrum and lies between the wavelengths 0.01
and 0.40 m. Ultraviolet rays are to be avoided since they can kill microorganisms and
cause serious damage to humans and other living beings. About 12 percent of solar
radiation is in the ultraviolet range. The ozone (O3) layer in the atmosphere acts as a
protective blanket and absorbs most of this ultraviolet radiation. 6
 In heat transfer studies, we are interested in the
energy emitted by bodies because of their
temperature only. Therefore, we limit our
consideration to thermal radiation.

The electrons, atoms, and molecules of all solids,

liquids, and gases above absolute zero temperature are
constantly in motion, and thus radiation is constantly
emitted, as well as being absorbed or transmitted
throughout the entire volume of matter.
That is, radiation is a volumetric phenomenon.

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1. LAWS OF RADIATION

• Different bodies may emit different amounts of radiation per unit surface area.
• A blackbody emits the maximum amount of radiation by a surface at a given
temperature.
• A blackbody is a perfect emitter and absorber of radiation.
• A blackbody absorbs all incident radiation, regardless of wavelength and direction.
1.1 Stefan-Boltzman Law, Kirchhoff’s Law

Stefan–Boltzmann law
Stefan–Boltzmann constant
 = 5.670  108 W/m2 · K4
The radiation energy emitted by a blackbody:

Blackbody emissive power

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1. LAWS OF RADIATION

- A large isothermal enclosure forms a blackbody cavity regardless

of the radiative properties of the enclosure surface, and the body
in the enclosure is too small to interfere with the blackbody nature
of the cavity.
- Therefore, the radiation incident on any part of the surface of the
small body is equal to the radiation emitted by a blackbody at
temperature T.
- Considering that the small body is in thermal equilibrium with the
enclosure, the net rate of heat transfer to the body must be zero.
Therefore, the radiation emitted by the body must be equal to the
radiation absorbed by it:

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1.1 Stefan-Boltzman Law, Kirchhoff’s Law

Kirchhoff’s law
The total hemispherical emissivity of a surface
at temperature T is equal to its total
hemispherical absorptivity for radiation coming
from a blackbody at the same temperature.

spectral form of
Kirchhoff’s law

The emissivity of a surface at a specified wavelength, direction, and temperature is always

equal to its absorptivity at the same wavelength, direction, and temperature.
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1.2 Relationship between Temperature,
Frequency and Wavelength

The wavelength at which the peak

occurs for a specified temperature is
given by Wien’s displacement law:

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Observations from the figure
• The emitted radiation is a continuous function of wavelength. At any specified
temperature, it increases with wavelength, reaches a peak, and then decreases with
increasing wavelength.
• At any wavelength, the amount of emitted radiation increases with increasing
temperature.
• As temperature increases, the curves shift to the left to the shorter wavelength
region. Consequently, a larger fraction of the radiation is emitted at shorter
wavelengths at higher temperatures.
• The radiation emitted by the sun, which is considered to be a blackbody at 5780 K
(or roughly at 5800 K), reaches its peak in the visible region of the spectrum.
Therefore, the sun is in tune with our eyes.
• On the other hand, surfaces at T < 800 K emit almost entirely in the infrared region
and thus are not visible to the eye unless they reflect light coming from other
sources.

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Blackbody radiation function f: The fraction of radiation emitted from a blackbody
at temperature T in the wavelength band from  = 0 to .

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1.3 Reflectivity, Absorptivity and Transmissivity

Irradiation, G: Radiation
flux incident on a surface.

for opaque surfaces

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 spectral hemispherical absorptivity

spectral hemispherical reflectivity

spectral hemispherical transmissivity

spectral directional absorptivity

spectral directional reflectivity

G: the spectral irradiation, W/m2m

Average absorptivity, reflectivity, and transmissivity of a surface:

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In practice, surfaces are assumed to reflect in a perfectly specular or diffuse manner.
Specular (or mirrorlike) reflection: The angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence
of the radiation beam.
Diffuse reflection: Radiation is reflected equally in all directions.

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RADIATION INTENSITY

Radiation is emitted by all parts of a plane

surface in all directions into the hemisphere
above the surface, and the directional
distribution of emitted (or incident) radiation
is usually not uniform.
Therefore, we need a quantity that describes
the magnitude of radiation emitted (or
incident) in a specified direction in space.
This quantity is radiation intensity, denoted
by I.

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 Solid Angle
Let us consider a watermelon, and let us attempt to quantify
the size of a slice. Again we can do it by specifying the outer
surface area of the slice (the green part), or by working with
angles for generality. Connecting all points at the edges of the
slice to the center in this case will form a three dimensional
body (like a cone whose tip is at the center), and thus the angle
at the center in this case is properly called the solid angle.
The solid angle is denoted by ω, and its unit is the steradian
(sr). In analogy to plane angle, we can say that the area of a
surface on a sphere of unit radius is equivalent in magnitude to
the solid angle it subtends (both 4 for a sphere of radius = 1).

This can be shown easily by considering a differential surface area on a sphere dS =

r2sin𝜃d𝜃dø as shown in figure 12-18 and integrating it from 𝜃=0 to 𝜃 =  and from ø =
0 to ø = 2. We get the expression which is the formula for the area of sphere.

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For r = 1, it reduces to S = 4, and thus the solid angle associated with a sphere is 4 sr.
For a hemisphere, which is more relevant to radiation emitted or received by a surface, it
is 2 sr. The differential solid angle dω subtended by a differential area dS on a sphere
on a radius of r can be expressed as.

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Note that the area dS is normal to the direction of viewing since dS is viewed from the
center of the sphere. In general, the differential solid angle dω subtended by a
differential surface area dA when viewed from a point at distance r from dA is
expressed as

Where α is the angle between the normal of the surface and the direction of viewing,
and thus dAn = dAcosα is the normal (or projected) area to the direction of viewing.
Small surfaces viewed from relatively large distances can approximately be treated as
differential area in solid angle calculations. For example, the solid angle subtended by
a 5 cm2 plane surface when viewed from a point O at a distance 80 cm along the
normal of the surface is

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Intensity of Emitted Radiation
The radiation intensity for emitted radiation Ie(𝜃, ø) is defined as the rate at which
radiation energy dQe is emitted in the (𝜃, ø) direction per unit area normal to this
direction and per unit solid angle about this direction. That is,

The radiation flux for emitted radiation is the emissive power E (the rate at which
radiation energy is emitted per unit area of the emitting surface), which can be expressed
in differential form as

Noting that the hemisphere above the surface intercepts all the radiation rays emitted by
the surface, the emissive power from the surface into the hemisphere surrounding it can
be determined by integration as

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The intensity of radiation emitted by a surface, in general, varies with direction
(especially with the zenith angle 𝜃). But many surfaces, in practice can be approximated
as being diffuse. For a diffusely emitting surface, the intensity of the emitted radiation is
independent of direction and thus Ie = constant.
Noting that,

For diffuse surface, The equation reduces to

For blackbody, the relation is given by

For blackbody, the relation for intensity of radiation is given by

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Incident Radiation
All surfaces emit radiation, but they also receive radiation
emitted or reflected by other surfaces. The intensity of
incident radiation Ii(𝜃, ø) is defined as the rate at which
radiation energy dG is incident from the (𝜃, ø) direction per
unit area of the receiving surface normal to this direction
and per unit solid angle about this direction (Fig. 12-20).
Here 𝜃 is the angle between the direction of incident
radiation and the normal of the surface.
The radiation flux incident on a surface from all directions is called irradiation G, and is
expressed as

Therefore, irradiation represents the rate at which radiation energy is incident on a

surface per unit area of the surface. When the incident radiation is diffuse and thus Ie =
constant.
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Radiosity
Surfaces emit radiation as well as reflecting it, and thus the
radiation leaving a surface consists of emitted and reflected
components as shown in figure 12-21. The calculation of
radiation heat transfer between surfaces involves the total
radiation energy streaming away from a surface, with no regard
for its origin. Thus, we need to define a quantity that represents
the rate at which radiation energy leaves a unit area of a surface
in all directions. This quantity is called the radiosity J, and is
expressed as

Where Ie+r is the sum of the emitted and reflected intensities. For a surface that is both a
diffuse emitter and a diffuse reflector, Ie+r = constant, and the radiosity relation reduces to

For a blackbody, radiosity J is equivalent to the emissive power Eb since a blackbody

absorbs the entire radiation incident on it and there is no reflected component in radiosity.
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Spectral Quantities
Sometimes it is necessary to consider the variation of radiation with wavelength as well as
direction, and to express quantities at a certain wavelength 𝜆 or per unit wavelength
interval about 𝜆. Such quantities are referred to as spectral quantities to draw attention to
wavelength dependence. The modifier “spectral” is used to indicate “at a given
wavelength.
The spectral radiation intensity I𝜆 (𝜆, 𝜃, ø), for example, is simply the total radiation
intensity I(𝜃, ø) per unit wavelength interval about 𝜆. The spectral intensity for emitted
radiation I𝜆,e (𝜆, 𝜃, ø) can be defined as the rate at which radiation energy dQe is emitted at
the wavelength 𝜆 in the (𝜃, ø), direction per unit area normal to this direction, per unit
solid angle about this direction and it can be expressed as

Then the spectral emissive power becomes

Similar relations can be obtained for spectral irradiation G𝜆, and spectral radiosity J𝜆 by
replacing I𝜆,e in this equation by I𝜆,i and I𝜆,e+r respectively. 26
 2. BLACK BODY AND GREY BODY RADIATION
Most materials encountered in practice, such as metals, wood, and bricks, are opaque to
thermal radiation, and radiation is considered to be a surface phenomenon for such
materials. Radiation through semitransparent materials such as glass and water cannot be
considered to be a surface phenomenon since the entire volume of the material interacts
with radiation. A blackbody can serve as a convenient reference in describing the
emission and absorption characteristics of real surfaces.
Emissivity
Emissivity: The ratio of the radiation emitted by the surface at a given temperature to
the radiation emitted by a blackbody at the same temperature. 0    1.
Emissivity is a measure of how closely a surface approximates a blackbody ( = 1).
The emissivity of a real surface varies with the temperature of the surface as well as the
wavelength and the direction of the emitted radiation. The emissivity of a surface at a
specified wavelength is called spectral emissivity . The emissivity in a specified
direction is called directional emissivity  where  is the angle between the direction of
radiation and the normal of the surface.
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A surface is said to be diffuse if its properties are independent of direction, and gray if
its properties are independent of wavelength.
The gray and diffuse approximations are often utilized in radiation calculations.

 is the angle measured from the

normal of the surface
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