Temperature of blackbody (star)

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves two stars behaving as black bodies, where one star is cooler with a known surface temperature and diameter compared to the hotter star. The discussion focuses on determining the temperature of the hotter star in relation to the cooler star and the ratio of their peak intensity wavelengths.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the relationship between the surface area and temperature of the stars, using the Stefan-Boltzmann law. There are attempts to express the temperature of the hotter star in terms of the cooler star's temperature, with some questioning the calculations of the areas and the proportionality of temperature to area.

Discussion Status

Some participants have provided guidance on the relationships between area and temperature, while others are exploring different interpretations of the area calculations. There is acknowledgment of progress in understanding the temperature relationship, but no consensus has been reached on the final expressions.

Contextual Notes

Participants are working under the constraints of the problem statement, which specifies the stars' energy output and dimensions, but there is some confusion regarding the calculations of areas and their implications for temperature.

pat666
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Homework Statement


b) Two stars, both of which behave like black bodies, radiate the same total energy per second. The cooler star has a surface temperature, T, and 3.0 times the diameter of the hotter star.
i) What is the temperature of the hotter star in terms of T?
ii) What is the ratio of the peak intensity wavelength of the hotter star to that of the cooler star?

Homework Equations


The Attempt at a Solution


Calling the cooler star 1 and the hotter 2
A1=4[tex]\pi[/tex]r12
A2=4[tex]\pi[/tex](3r1)2
P1=P2
P=[tex]\epsilon[/tex][tex]\sigma[/tex]AT4
so P[tex]\propto[/tex]AT and that I think means T [tex]\propto[/tex] 1/A
Here is where I get stuck, not sure if anything I am doing is right (basically just playing to see what happens) and not sure where to go now?
 
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pat666 said:

The Attempt at a Solution


Calling the cooler star 1 and the hotter 2
A1=4[tex]\pi[/tex]r12
A2=4[tex]\pi[/tex](3r1)2
P1=P2
P=[tex]\epsilon[/tex][tex]\sigma[/tex]AT4
so P[tex]\propto[/tex]AT and that I think means T [tex]\propto[/tex] 1/A
Here is where I get stuck, not sure if anything I am doing is right (basically just playing to see what happens) and not sure where to go now?
You're pretty much on track, except that your T has lost it's 4 exponent.
P α A T 4
 
So A_2 is 12 times the size of A_1 and T is proportional to 1/A^4
T=12T_1?
 
pat666 said:
So A_2 is 12 times the size of A_1
No, it isn't. How did you calculate that? What is A2/A1, given the correct expressions for A1 and A2 that you wrote earlier?
and T is proportional to 1/A^4
No, you need to use the fact that A·T4 is a constant to get the proportionality relation.
T=12T_1?
No.
 
A2/A1=9
P is proportional to AT^4
still not sure what to do here?
 
pat666 said:
A2/A1=9
Yes.
P is proportional to AT^4
still not sure what to do here?
Yes, and since P is the same for both stars,
A1 T14 = A2 T24
Solve for T2
 
I get T2=1/sqrt(3)T1? since the indices on T cancel out.
 
Looks good, that's what I get too.

(I assume you mean T1/sqrt(3), and not 1/[T1*sqrt(3)] )
 
yeah I meant the 1st one. Thanks for helping me to the answer.
 

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