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Question 87 of 90

Q.State and prove Kirchhoff's law of heat radiation.

Maharashtra MsbshseMaharashtra HSC (MSBSHSE) Board 2025Subjective· 3mImportance★★★★★
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Good absorbers of radiation are correspondingly good emitters — this proportionality is exactly the black-body emissive power.

Statement: At a given temperature, for radiation of a particular wavelength, the ratio of the emissive power eλe_\lambda to the absorptive power aλa_\lambda is the same for all bodies and is equal to the emissive power EλE_\lambda of a perfectly black body at that temperature:

eλaλ=Eλ  (same for all bodies at that T)\dfrac{e_\lambda}{a_\lambda} = E_\lambda \;(\text{same for all bodies at that } T)

Proof: Consider a body placed inside an enclosure whose walls are maintained at temperature TT, in thermal equilibrium with the enclosure. Let the body have emissive power eλe_\lambda and absorptive power aλa_\lambda, and let EλE_\lambda be the emissive power of a perfectly black body (absorptive power aλ=1a_\lambda = 1) at the same temperature receiving the same incident flux EλE_\lambda from the enclosure.

The body absorbs energy aλEλa_\lambda E_\lambda per unit time (per unit area, per unit wavelength interval) from the enclosure's radiation, and it emits energy eλe_\lambda. Since the body is in thermal equilibrium with the enclosure (its temperature is not changing), the energy absorbed must equal the energy emitted:

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