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The Physics Teacher -- April 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 4, pp. 222

Why Shiny Metals Are Poor Emitters of Radiation

Ronald Bryan

Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

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Students often wonder why polished metals are poor emitters of radiation when they are so shiny. Here I present a simple model that helps to explain this apparent paradox.

© 2007 American Association of Physics Teachers

KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

physics education, blackbody radiation, educational technology, electromagnetic waves, temperature, reflection, absorption

PACS

  • 01.55.+b

    General physics

  • 40.00.00

    ELECTROMAGNETISM, OPTICS, ACOUSTICS, HEAT TRANSFER, CLASSICAL MECHANICS, AND FLUID DYNAMICS

History
Online Mar 2007

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0031-921X (print)  

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Association of Physics Teachers

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.2715418

  1. M.R. Wehr, J.A. Richards Jr., and T.W. Adair III, Physics of the Atom, 4th ed. (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1984).


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