Hot objects with temperatures of 10 million Kelvin give off most of their radiation in which part of the electromagnetic spectrum?

1 Answer
Truong-Son N.
Jun 14, 2017

Well, this can be estimated with Wien's Displacement Law:

lambda_(max) = (2.8977729 xx 10^(-3) "m"cdot"K")/T,

assuming your hot object of interest is a blackbody (not at all related to a woman!), i.e. an opaque body that does not reflect any light.

lambda_(max) gives the peak wavelength of a blackbody's radiation curve as a function of surface temperature.

So, if we assume the surface temperature of the object is 10^7 "K", then its maximum wavelength is approximately:

color(blue)(lambda_(max)) ~~ (2.8977729 xx 10^(-3) "m"cdot"K")/(10^7 "K")

= 2.90 xx 10^(-10) "m"

= color(blue)("0.290 nm"),

which is around the X-ray region, with wavelength range 0.01 - "10 nm".

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