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Kirchhoff’s radiation law

physics
Also known as: Kirchhoff’s law of thermal radiation

Quick Summary

Kirchhoff's radiation law, formulated by Gustav Robert Kirchhoff, states that for all bodies at the same temperature, the ratio of their emissive power to their absorptivity is constant and equal to the emissive power of a black body at that temperature. This means that good absorbers of thermal radiation are also good emitters. A blackbody is an ideal object that absorbs all incident radiation and is also a perfect emitter. This law is fundamental to understanding how objects emit and absorb thermal radiation, which is energy in the form of electromagnetic waves emitted by heated surfaces.12

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