Stefan-Boltzmann law
Ley de Stefan-Boltzmann
- Date
- 1877-1884 · confidence high
- Place
- Vienna, Austria
- Credited to
- Josef Stefan (empirical law, 1877); Ludwig Boltzmann (theoretical derivation, 1884)
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
The total energy radiated by a black body is proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature. Stefan derives it empirically in Vienna, and his former student Boltzmann later deduces it from thermodynamics.
Boltzmann drew on Adolfo Bartoli's earlier work on radiation pressure for his theoretical derivation.
What it led to
- Calculation of stellar and planetary temperatures from their radiation
- Wien's displacement law and Planck's black-body law
- Thermodynamics of electromagnetic radiation