Stefan-Boltzmann's Law - FLIR E series User Manual

33 – Theory of thermography
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Figure 33.6 Planckian curves plotted on semi-log scales from 100 K to 1000 K. The dotted line represents
the locus of maximum radiant emittance at each temperature as described by Wien's displacement law.
2
1: Spectral radiant emittance (W/cm (μm)); 2: Wavelength (μm).
33.3.3

Stefan-Boltzmann's law

By integrating Planck's formula from λ = 0 to λ = ∞, we obtain the total radiant
emittance (W ) of a blackbody:
b
This is the Stefan-Boltzmann formula (after Josef Stefan, 1835–1893, and Ludwig
Boltzmann, 1844–1906), which states that the total emissive power of a blackbody is
proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature. Graphically, W represents
b
the area below the Planck curve for a particular temperature. It can be shown that the
radiant emittance in the interval λ = 0 to λ is only 25% of the total, which represents
max
about the amount of the sun's radiation which lies inside the visible light spectrum.
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Publ. No. T559597 Rev. a554 – ENGLISH (EN) – September 27, 2011