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The energy emitted at shorter wavelengths increases more rapidly with temperature. For example, an ideal blackbody in thermal equilibrium at 1,273 K (1,000 °C; 1,832 °F), will emit 97% of its energy at wavelengths below 14 μm. [8] The term emissivity is generally used to describe a simple, homogeneous surface such as silver.
For example, white paint is quoted as having an absorptivity of 0.16, while having an emissivity of 0.93. [13] This is because the absorptivity is averaged with weighting for the solar spectrum, while the emissivity is weighted for the emission of the paint itself at normal ambient temperatures.
Emissivity can in general depend on wavelength, direction, and polarization. However, the emissivity which appears in the non-directional form of the Stefan–Boltzmann law is the hemispherical total emissivity, which reflects emissions as totaled over all wavelengths, directions, and polarizations. [3]: 60
Notes Name Sym. Hemispherical emissivity: ε — Radiant exitance of a surface, divided by that of a black body at the same temperature as that surface. Spectral hemispherical emissivity: ε ν ε λ — Spectral exitance of a surface, divided by that of a black body at the same temperature as that surface. Directional emissivity: ε Ω —
This emissivity depends on factors such as temperature, emission angle, and wavelength. However, it is typical in engineering to assume that a surface's spectral emissivity and absorptivity do not depend on wavelength so that the emissivity is a constant. This is known as the gray body assumption.
The absorption coefficient is fundamentally the product of a quantity of absorbers per unit volume, [cm −3], times an efficiency of absorption (area/absorber, [cm 2]). Several sources [2] [12] [3] replace nσ λ with k λ r, where k λ is the absorption coefficient per unit density and r is the density of the gas.
Emissivity (or emissivity coefficient) represents a material's ability to emit thermal radiation, which is an optical property of matter. A material's emissivity can theoretically range from 0 (completely not-emitting) to 1 (completely emitting). An example of a substance with low emissivity would be silver, with an emissivity coefficient of 0.02.