An astronomer plots the intensity of the radiation emitted from an opaque, perfectly absorbing object at a certain temperature versus its wavelength. As the temperature increases, the wavelength at which the spectrum peaks becomes shorter and shorter. This is an example of
A) Stephan's law.
B) Kepler's first law.
C) Bode's law.
D) Wien's law.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This phenomenon is described by Wien's law, which states that the peak wavelength of radiation emitted by a black body is inversely proportional to its temperature. As the temperature increases, the peak wavelength decreases, moving to shorter wavelengths.

An Astronomer Plots the Intensity of the Radiation Emitted from an Opaque