RADIATION PROCESS AND

PROPERTIES

Course Contents
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Salient features and
characteristics of radiation
5.3 Wavelength distribution of
black body radiation:

5.4 Total Emissive Power:

Stefan-Boltzman law
5.5
5.6 Relation between
Emissivity and absorptivity
of the body:
5.7 Plane and solid angle
5.8 Intensity of Radiation and

5.9 Relation between the

normal intensity and
emissive power.
5.10 Solved Numerical
5.11 References
5.1 Introduction
Consider a hot object that is suspended in an evacuated chamber whose walls are at
room temperature (Figure 5.1). The hot object will eventually cool down and reach
thermal equilibrium with its surroundings.
That is, it will lose heat until its temperature reaches the temperature of the walls of
the chamber.
Heat transfer between the object and the chamber could not have taken place by
conduction or convection, because these two mechanisms cannot occur in a
vacuum.
Therefore, heat transfer must have occurred through another mechanism that
involves the emission of the internal energy of the object. This mechanism is
radiation.

Fig. 5.1 Hot object in vacuum chamber

Note:- Radiation differs from the other two heat transfer mechanisms in that it
does not require the presence of a material medium to take place. In fact, energy
transfer by radiation is fastest (at the speed of light) in a vacuum. Also, radiation
transfer occurs in solids as well as liquids and gases. In most practical
applications, all three modes of heat transfer occur concurrently at varying
degrees. But heat transfer through an evacuated space can occur only by
radiation. For example, the energy of the sun reaches the earth by radiation.

Unlike conduction and convection, heat

transfer by radiation can occur between
two bodies, even when they are separated
by a medium colder than both as shown in
figure 5.2.

Fig. 5.2 Radiation heat transfer from hot to cold body

5.2 Salient Features and Characteristics of Radiation
Radiation is the propagation and emission of energy in the form of electromagnetic
waves.

The electromagnetic waves are emitted as a result of vibrational and

rotational movements of the molecular, atomic or sub atomic particles
comprising the matter. When body is excited by an oscillating electrical
signal, electronic or neutronic bombardment, chemical reaction etc, emission
of radiation occur.
One form of radiation is differ from the other form of radiation by its
frequency and wavelength. The relation between frequency and wavelength
is given as

The general phenomenon of radiation covers the propagation of electromagnetic

waves of all wavelengths, from short wavelength gamma rays to long wavelength
microwave.

Wave length,

Fig. 5.3 Electromagnetic wave spectrum

Thermal radiation is that electromagnetic radiation emitted by a body as a result of
its temperature.
Thermal radiation is limited to range of wavelength between 0.1 to 100 m, which
includes the entire visible and infrared and a part of the ultraviolet spectrum.

Light is simply the visibleportion of the electromagneticspectrum that lies

between 0.40 and 0.76 m.
A body that emits some radiation in the visible range is called a lightsource. The
sun is our primary light source.
The radiation emitted by bodies at room temperature falls into the
infraredregion of the spectrum, which extends from 0.76 to 100 m.
 The ultraviolet radiation includes the low-wavelength end of the
thermalradiation spectrum and lies between the wavelengths 0.01 and 0.40
m.Ultraviolet rays are to be avoided since they can kill microorganisms
andcause serious damage to humans and other living beings.
About 12 percentof solar radiation is in the ultraviolet range.The ozone (O3)
layer inthe atmosphere acts as a protective blanket and absorbs most of this
ultravioletradiation.

Thermal radiation exhibit characteristics similar to those of light, and follow the
optical laws.
Thermal radiation is continuously emitted by all matter whose temperature is above
absolute zero.
Body at higher temperature emits energy at greater rate than bodies at low
temperature.

Normally a body radiating heat is simultaneously receiving heat from other

bodies as incident radiation.
Net heat exchange between two radiating surfaces is due to the fact that one at
high temperature radiates more and receives less energy for its absorption.
An isolated body which remains at constant temperature emits just as much
energy radiation as it receives.

Heat transfer by radiation depends upon the level of temperature unlike conduction
and convection.

Heat transfer by conduction and convection from the body at temperature of

1000 to surrounding at temperature of 800 is practically remains same for
the body at temperature of 900 to surrounding at temperature of 700 .
Where as in the case of radiation heat transfer, heat transfer is not same even if
the temperature differences are same.
Net heat transfer by radiation at elevated temperature is greater than heat
transfer at low temperature.

5.2.1 Absorptivity, Reflectivity, and Transmissivity

When thermal radiation is incident on a surface, a part of the radiation may be
reflected by the surface , a part may be absorbed by the surface and a part
may be transmitted through the surface as shown in figure 5.4.
These fractions of reflected, absorbed, and transmitted energy are interpreted as
system properties called reflectivity, absorptivity, and transmissivity, respectively.
 Fig. 5.4: Reflection, absorption and transmitted energy
Thus using energy conservation,

Dividing these equation by

Where
= absorptivity or fraction of total energy absorbed by the body
= reflectivity or fraction of total energy reflected from the body
= transmissivity or fraction of total energy transmitted through the body
The factors , and are dimensionless and vary from 0 to 1.
A blackbody is defined as a perfect emitter and absorber of radiation. At a specified
temperature and wavelength, no surface can emit more energy than a blackbody.
A blackbody absorbs all incident radiation, regardless of wavelength and direction.
Also, a blackbody emits radiation energy uniformly in all directions per unit area
normal to direction of emission. For black body = 1, and

In actual practice there does not exist a perfectly black body which will absorb
all incident radiations. Snow, with its absorptivity 0.985, is nearly black to the
thermal radiation.
The absorptivity of a surface depends upon the direction of incident radiation,
temperature of the surface, composition and structure of the irradiated surface
and the spectral distribution of incident radiation.

When a surface absorbs a certain fixed percentage of impinging radiations, the

surface is called gray body. A surface whose properties are independent of the
wavelength is known as a gray surface.
A gray body is defined such that the monochromatic emissivity of the body is
independent of wavelength. For gray body

The condition of constant absorptivity too is not satisfied by the real materials
and as such even a gray body remains a hypothetical concept like the black
body.
A body that reflects all the incident thermal radiations is called an absolutely white
body or specular body. For white body = 1, and

Regular (specular) reflection implies that angle between the reflected

beam and the normal to the surface equals the angle made by the incident
radiation with the same normal.
In a diffused radiation, incident beam is reflected in all directions.

(a) Specular radiation (b) Diffused radiation

Fig. 5.5 Specular and diffused radiations
Most of the engineering materials have rough surfaces, and these rough
surfaces give diffused reflections.

A body that allows all the incident radiations to pass through it is calledtransparent
body or diathermanous. For such body , and
Transmissivity varies with wave length of incident radiation. A material may be non-
transparent for a certain wavelength transparent for another. This type of material is
called selective transmitter.

A thin glass plate transmits most of the thermal radiations from the sun, but
absorbs in equally great measure the thermal radiations emitted from the low
temperature interior of a building.
reen house to trap the solar radiation in
low temperature space.

For opaque body, , and . It means that good absorbers are bad
reflector or vice-versa.

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.
 Radiation in opaque solid is considered a surface phenomenon since the
radiation emitted only by the molecules at the surface can escape the solid
as shown in figure 5.6.

Fig. 5.6 Radiation in opaque solid

5.2.2 Black Body Concept

Consider a large cavity with small opening maintained at constant temperature as
shown in figure 5.7.
The inner surface of the cavity is coated with the black lamp. A beam of thermal
radiation entering the hole strikes the inner surface. Since the inner surface has high
absoptivity, the major portion of the radiation is absorbed and only a small fraction
is reflected.
The weak reflected beam does not find any way out and again strikes the inner
surface. Here it is again partly absorbed and partly reflected.
Likewise the reflected radiation is successively absorbed and finally when is escapes
out, it has only a negligible amount of energy associated with it.

Fig.5.7 Black body concept

Although a blackbody would appear black to the eye, a distinction should be

made between the idealized blackbody and an ordinary black surface.
Any surface that absorbs light (the visible portion of radiation) would appear
black to the eye, and a surface that reflects it completely would appear white.
 Considering that visible radiation occupies a very narrow band of the spectrum
from 0.4 to 0.76 _m, we cannot make any judgments about the blackness of a
surface on the basis of visual observations.
For example, snow and white paint reflect light and thus appear white. But
they are essentially black for infrared radiation since they strongly absorb long-
wavelength radiation. Surfaces coated with lampblack paint approach idealized
blackbody behavior.

5.2.3 Spectral and Spatial Energy Distribution

Spectral Energy Distribution: The radiation emitted by the body consists of
electromagnetic waves of various wavelengths. Distribution of radiation with wave
length is called spectral energy distribution as show in figure 5.8(a).

(a) Spectral energy distribution (b) Spatial energy distribution

Fig. 5.8 Spectral and spatial energy distribution
Spatial (Directional) Energy Distribution: A surface emits the radiation in all
directions. The intensity of radiation is different in different direction. The
distribution of radiation along the direction is called spatial distribution.

5.3 Wavelength Distribution of Black Body R

The energy emitted by a black surface varies in accordance with wavelength,
temperature and surface characteristics of the body.
Spectral blackbody emissive power (monochromatic emissive power) =

per unit time, per unit surface area, and per unit wavelength about the wavelength

Plank suggested the following law for the spectral distribution of emissive power:

Where,
h = plank constant,
 c = Velocity of light in vacuum,
k = Boltzman constant,
T = Absolute temperature of black body, K
The above expression is written as

Where,

The variation of distribution of the monochromatic emissive power with wavelength

is called spectral energy distribution, and this has been shown in figure 5.9
The following important features can be noted from this plot:
i 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.

Fig. 5.9 Radiation of black body as a function of wavelength and temperature

ii At any wavelength, the amount of emitted radiation increases with increasing
temperature.
 iii As temperature increases, the pick of 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.
iv 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.
v On theother hand, surfaces at T < 800 K emit almost entirely in the infraredregion and
thus are not visible to the eye unless they reflect light comingfrom other sources.

5.4 Total Emissive Power: Stefan-Boltzman law

The total emissive power E of a surface is defined as the total radiant energy
emitted by the surface in all directions over the entire wavelength per unit surface
area per unit time.
The basic rate equation for radiation transfer is based on Stefan-Boltzman law which
states that the amount of radiant energy emitted per unit area of black surface is
proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature.

Where is the radiation coefficient of a black body.

Total emissive power of black body can be obtained by integrating the
monochromatic emissive power over entire wavelength to

By simplifying the equation

Where, is Stefan-Boltzmann constant, equal to and T is the

absolute temperature in K.
The Stefan-Boltzmann law helps us to determine the amount of radiations emitted in
all the directions and over the entire wavelength spectrum from a simple knowledge
of the temperature of the black body.
Normally a body radiating heat is simultaneously receiving heat from other bodies as
radiation. Consider that surface 1 at temperature is completely enclosed by
another black surface at temperature . The net radiation heat flux is then given by

5.5
Figure 5.9 shows that as the temperature increases the peaks of the curve also
increases and it shift towards the shorter wavelength.
The wavelength, at which the monochromatic emissive power is a maximum, is
and equating to zero.
Solution of this equation is given as

Where, is the wavelength at which emissive power is maximum.

It can be easily found out that the wavelength corresponding to the peak of the plot
( ) is inversely proportional to the temperature of the blackbody.
It means that maximum spectral radiation intensity shifts towards the shorter
wavelength with rising temperature.

The peak of the solar radiation, for example, occurs at

, which is near the middle of the visible
range.
The peak of the radiation emitted by a surface at room temperature (T =
298 K) occurs at 9.72 m, which is well into the infrared region of the
spectrum.
An electrical resistance heater starts radiating heat soon after it is plugged
in, and we can feel the emitted radiation energy by holding our hands
facing the heater. But this radiation is entirely in the infrared region and
thus cannot be sensed by our eyes. The heater would appear dull red
when its temperature reaches about 1000 K, since it will start emitting a
detectable amount (about 1 W/m 2 · m) of visible red radiation at that
temperature.
As the temperature rises even more, the heater appears bright red and is
said to be red hot. When the temperature reaches about 1500 K, the
heater emits enough radiation in the entire visible range of the spectrum
to appear almost white to the eye, and it is called white hot.
Although it cannot be sensed directly by the human eye, infrared radiation
can be detected by infrared cameras, which transmit the information to
microprocessors to display visual images of objects at night.

off warm-blooded animals, and thus they can see at night without using
any instruments.
A surface that reflects all of the light appears white, while a surface that
absorbs all of the light incident on it appears black. (Then how do we see a
black surface?)
It should be clear from this discussion that the color of an object is not due
to emission, which is primarily in the infrared region, unless the surface
temperature of the object exceeds about 1000 K.
 Instead, the color of a surface depends on the absorption and reflection
characteristics of the surface and is due to selective absorption and
reflection of the incident visible radiation coming from a light source such as
the sun or an incandescent light bulb.
A piece of clothing containing a pigment that reflects red while absorbing

chlorophyll,
which strongly reflects green while absorbing other colors.

Fig. 5.10 Reflection of incident light from the surface

5.6 Relation Between Emissivity and Absorptivity of the Body:

Consider two surfaces, one absolutely black at temperature and the other non-black
at temperature T. The surfaces are arranged parallel to each other and so close that
radiation of one falls totally on the other.

Fig. 5.11 Heat transfer between black and non black surface
The radiant energy E emitted by the non-black surface impinges on the black surface and
gets fully absorbed. Likewise the radiant energy emitted by the black surface strikes
the non-black surface. If the non-black surface has absorptivity , it will absorb
 radiations and the remainder will be reflected back to black body where
it will be fully absorbed. If the both surfaces are at same temperature then the net heat
transfer is equal to zero. Net heat transfer for the non-black body is given as

-black body E to the emissive power of

black body , both bodies being at the same temperature, is called the emissivity of the

Emissivity is used to find out the emissive power of the gray surface.

and absorptivity of a real surface are

absorber is also a perfect radiator.

5.7 Plane and Solid Angle

Plane angle is defined by a region by the rays of a circle, and is measured as the ratio of
the element of arc of length l on the circle to the radius r of the circle. Mathematically

Fig. 5.12 Plane and solid angle

The solid angle is defined by a region by the rays of a sphere, and is measured as:

Where
= projection of the incident surface normal to the line of propagation
= area of incident surface
= angle between the normal to the incident surface and the line of propagation
= length of the line of propagation between the radiating and the incident surfaces