Blackbody Spectrum

How does the blackbody spectrum of the sun compare to visible light? Learn about the blackbody spectrum of the sun, a light bulb, an oven, and the earth. Adjust the temperature to see the wavelength and intensity of the spectrum change. View the color of the peak of the spectral curve.

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Topics

Main Topics

Blackbody spectrum
Sun
Light
Quantum Mechanics

Sample Learning Goals

Describe what happens to the blackbody spectrum as you increase the temperature. What happens to the shape of the curve and the peak of this curve?
What happens to the blackbody spectrum as you decrease the temperature?
Set the temperature to that of a light bulb (around 3000K). Based on this information, do lightbulbs seem efficient? Why do light bulbs get hot?
Imagine that you see 2 hot, glowing objects--one is glowing orange and the other is glowing blue. Which one is hotter?

Teaching Ideas

Tips for Teachers

The teacher's guide contains tips for teachers created by the PhET team (PDF).

Ideas and Activities for this Sim

There are 4 contributions listed.

Title	Author	Level	Type	Updated
Blackbody Spectrum	C. Miller	HS	Lab	9/07
Blackbody Spectrum & Lasers Simulations Homework	K. Perkins	HS UG-Intro	HW	11/08
Blackbody Spectrum Simulation Homework	K. Perkins	UG-Adv UG-Intro	HW	11/08
Solar Astronomy	M. Kelly	HS	HW Lab	11/07

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Software Requirements

Windows Systems	Macintosh Systems	Linux Systems
Microsoft Windows 98SE/2000/XP/Vista Macromedia Flash 8 or later	OS 10.4 or later Macromedia Flash 8 or later	Macromedia Flash 8 or later

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