Experiment No.

2
Inverse Square Law for Heat
And Stefan-Boltzmann Law
I.

Objective
1. To show that the intensity of radiation on the surface is inversely
proportional to the square of the distance of the surface from
radiation source.
2. To show that the intensity of radiation varies as the fourth power
of the source temperature.

II.

Materials/Equipments Needed
1. Thermal Radiation Unit

III.

Equipment Set- Up
A. Inverse Square Law for Heat

B. Stefan-Boltzmann Law

IV.

Theory
Inverse Square Law for Heat
The total energy dQ from an element dA can be imagined to flow
through a hemisphere of radius r. A surface element on this
hemisphere dA1 lies on a line marking an angle with the normal
and the solid angle subtended by dA1 at dA is d1= dA1/r2. If the

rate of flow of energy through dA1 is dQ1 then dQ1= id1dA where
i is the intensity of radiation in the direction.
Stefan-Boltzmann Law
The Stefan-Boltzmann law states that:
q b= ( T 4s T 4A )
Where:

qb

= energy emitted by unit area of a black body surface

= Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5,67x10-8 Wm-2K4)

Ts= Source temperature (K)
TA= Temperature of radiometer and surroundings (K)
V.

Procedure
A. Inverse Square Law for Heat
1. Set power control to wide position and allow approximately 15
minutes for the heater to reach a stable temperature before
beginning the experiment.
2. Record the radiometer reading and the distance from the
heat source (X) for a number of positions of the radiometer
along the horizontal track. It will take approximately 2mnutes
for the radiometer to stabilize being move to each new
position,

Initial Values of Variables to be Used

Distance from the heat source (X) = 800mm. Note that
radiometer sensor surface is 65mm from the center line of
detector carriage and therefore center line position will be
865 mm.

B. Stefan-Boltzmann Law
1. Set power control to maximum on the instrument console.
2. Record the radiometer reading (R) and the temperature (T)
ambient conditions then for selected increments of increasing
temperature up to maximum within a practical range. Both
readings should be noted simultaneously at any given point. It
is recommended that while waiting for the black plate

temperature to stabilize between each increase of the heater

power control the reflective disc is placed in the radiometer
aperture to prevent heating effects and zero drift.

Initial Values of Variables to be Used

Distance from radiometer to black plate (X) = 200mm
Distance from black plate to heat source (Y) = 50mm

VI.

Results and Discussion

A. Inverse Square Law for Heat

From the negative slope generated by the graph log R vs. log X
(see appendix A), Y=-1.7293x + 6.2866 is -1.7293x which means
inversely proportional relationship between the intensity of radiation
on a surface and the square of distance of surface from the source
of radiation.
B. Stefan- Boltzmann Law
Readings
Temp
Reading
(T)
C

Radiometer
Reading
(R)
W/m2

159

128

152

117

141

105

126

88

104

68

96

58

Calculations
Ts

TA

Qb*

Qb

W/m2

W/m2

1416.9
60
1295.1
90
1162.3
50
974.16
0
752.76
0
642.06
0

1530.37
6
1405.32
8
1220.92
3
1006.55
4

432.1
5
425.1
5
414.1
5
400.1
5
377.1
5
369.1
5

298
298
298
298
298
298

700.056
605.773

%
Error

7.4110
7.8372
4.7974
3.2183
7.5285
5.9902

Calculated values of Qb as shown in the table above are of

reasonable percentage errors. These data are results of calculation
according to Stefan - Boltzmann Law and emissivity of black plate

which is the experimental value. Since percentage errors are quite

small, thus the experimental results agree with the theoretical value
which is the Stefan - Boltzmann Law.
Radiation Reading vs Temperature Reading (K)

log R

140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

f(x) = 0x - 17.84
R = 1

15000000000 25000000000 35000000000

10000000000 20000000000 30000000000 40000000000
log T

The slope from the above graph which is 4.1702111387E-09 is

close to the accepted Stefan- Boltzmann constant equal to 5.67x10 -8
W/m2K4.
Nomenclature:
Qb= Energy emitted by unit area of a block body surface (W/m 2)
Ts= Source temperature of radiometer and surroundings
TA = Temperature of radiometer and surroundings (K)
= Stefan- Boltzmann constant equal to 5.67x10-8 Wm-2K-4

VII.

Conclusions
The best fit line of the graph gives a slope equal to -1.7293. The
inverse square law states that the theoretical slope of the graph log
R vs. Log X should have a value of -2. Since the experimental result
gives -1.7293, which is close to theoretical value, it can be
concluded that this values shows the inverse proportionality
between the intensity of radiation on a surface and square of
distance of the surface of radiation source.
In the last part of the experiment, it is proven that the intensity

of radiation varies as the fourth power of the source of temperature

(Ts). Using the percentage error, it is found that experimental and
theoretical results are of close difference, therefore concluding that
the experimental results agrees with Stefan - Boltzmann Law.
VIII. References
2012, Radiation Heat Transfer,
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/radiation-heat-transferd_431.html
2012, Wikipedia, Inverse Square Law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse-square_law
2012, Wikipedia, Heat Transfer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_transfer
2012, The overview behind heat radiation
http://www.efunda.com/formulae/heat_transfer/radiation/overview_r
ad.cfm
Incropera, DeWitt, Bergmann, Lavine, Fundamentals of Heat and
Mass Transfer, 7th Edition, Wiley Asia Student Edition
Yunus A. Cengel, Michael A. Boles, Thermodynamics An Engineering
Approach, 7th Edition, Mc Graw Hill
Appendices
Appendix A. Experimental Data
A. Inverse Square Law for Heat
Distance, X, (mm)

100

200

300

Radiometer Reading, R (W/m2)

651

220

99

Temperature Reading (C)

159

152

141

Radiometer Reading, R (W/m2)

TA (K)

128
298

117
298

105
298

40
0
59

500 600
41

31

12
6
88
29
8

104

96

B. Stefan-Boltzmann Law

68
58
298 298

Appendix B: Sample Computation

A. Inverse Square Law for Heat
Distance, X,
(mm)
Radiometer
Reading, R
(W/m2)
Log (Distance, X,
(mm))
Log (Radiometer
Reading, R
(W/m2))

100

200

300

400

500

600

651

220

99

59

41

31

2.000

2.301

2.477

2.602

2.698

2.778

2.813

2.342

1.995

1.770

1.612

1.491

Lambert's Distance Law

3.0
2.5 f(x) = - 1.73x + 6.29
2.0 R = 1
1.5
Log Lambert's
(Radiometer
Reading,
R
(W/m2))
Distance Law
Linear (Lambert's
Distance Law)
1.0
0.5
0.0
2.20
2.60
3.00
2.00
2.40
2.80
Log (Distance, X, (mm))

B. Stefan-Boltzmann Law

1. Derivation of Qb= 11.07*R.

Radius(r)= 63mm = 0.63m
Length(L)= 200mm = 0.2m
qinsident = qemitted x

r2
2
2
r +L
2

Radiometer reading= qemitted x

r
2
2
r +L

Therefore, qemitted = Radiometer reading /

r 2+ L 2
r2

Substituting,
(0.063)2+(0.2)2
=11.07 R
( 0.063)2

2. Computations of Qb
Calculations
Qb*
W/m2
Qb*=11.07 x R
11.07 x 128K
=1416.960
11.07 x 117K
=1295.190
11.07 x 105K
=1162.350
11.07 x 88K
=974.160
11.07 x 68K
=752.760
11.07 x 58K
=642.060

Qb
W/m2
Qb= (Ts4-TA4)
5.67x10-8 Wm-2K-4 (432.15 4 K - 2298
4
K)
=1530.376
5.67x10-8 Wm-2 K-4 (425.15 4 K 2298 4K)
=1405.328
-8
5.67x10 Wm-2 K-4 (414.15 4 K 2298 4K)
=1220.923
5.67x10-8 Wm- K-4 (400.15 4 K - 2298
4
K)
=1006.554
5.67x10-8 Wm-2 K-4 (377.15 4 K 2298 4K)
=700.056
-8
5.67x10 Wm-2 K-4 (369.15 4 K 2298 4K)
=605.773

3. Computation of Percentage Error

% Error
((1530.376 - 1416.960)/ 1530.376 )x
100
=7.4110
((1405.328 - 1295.190)/ 1405.328)x
100
=7.8372
((1220.923 - 1162.350)/ 1220.923)x
100
=4.7974
((1006.554 - 974.160)/ 1006.554)x
100
=3.2183
((700.056 - 752.760)/ 700.056)x 100
= - 7.5285
((605.773 - 642.060)/ 605.773)x 100
=-5.9902

Appendix C: Attendance Sheet