Thermal radiation

Hot metalwork from a blacksmith. The yellow-orange glow is the visible part of the thermal radiation emitted due to the high temperature. Everything else in the picture is glowing with thermal radiation as well, but less brightly and at longer wavelengths than the human eye can see. An infrared camera will show this radiation (See Thermography).

This diagram shows how the peak wavelength and total radiated amount vary with temperature. Although this plot shows relatively high temperatures, the same relationships hold true for any temperature down to absolute zero. Visible light is between 380 to 750 nm.

Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation emitted from a material which is due to the heat of the material, the characteristics of which depend on its temperature. An example of thermal radiation is the infrared radiation emitted by a common household radiator or electric heater. A person near a raging bonfire will feel the radiated heat of the fire, even if the surrounding air is very cold. Thermal radiation is generated when heat from the movement of charges in the material (electrons and protons in common forms of matter) is converted to electromagnetic radiation. Sunshine, or solar radiation, is thermal radiation from the extremely hot gasses of the Sun, and this radiation heats the Earth. The Earth also emits thermal radiation, but at a much lower intensity because it is cooler. The balance between heating by incoming solar thermal radiation and cooling by the Earth's outgoing thermal radiation is the primary process that determines the Earth's overall temperature.

If the object is a black body in thermodynamic equilibrium, the radiation is termed black-body radiation^[1]. The emitted wave frequency of the black body thermal radiation is described by a probability distribution depending only on temperature, and for a genuine black body in thermodynamic equilibrium is given by Planck’s law of radiation. Wien's law gives the most likely frequency of the emitted radiation, and the Stefan–Boltzmann law gives the radiant intensity.^[2]