Asked in PMC Practice Test 29 (2021) 2021Moderate

Radiation emitted by hot bodies have the color:

Correct answer: D. White

  • A. Red
  • B. Green
  • C. Blue
  • D. White

Explanation

Its color depends only on its temperature. By definition, a black body does not reflect light, and only emits light by radiation because of its temperature, so at zero degrees it's totally black. As it it gradually warms up, it emits radio waves and then infrared waves (cant be seen). As it warms further it begins to glow red the way a heating coil glows red when heated. As it continues to warm, it glows orange, yellow, then (at about 6,000 kelvin like the surface of the sun) white because it is now emitting all the wavelengths in the visible spectrum. At higher temperatures it continues to glow white even though it is now also emitting X-rays and gamma rays (along with radio, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, and X-rays).

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About Thermal Equilibrium and Heat

Thermal equilibrium means that bodies in contact have the same temperature and no net heat flows between them. The topic distinguishes heat from temperature, uses the zeroth law of thermodynamics, and covers heat transfer, specific heat capacity, thermal expansion and the conditions for reaching equilibrium.

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