Why do ceramic heat emitters produce UV radiation?

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acesuv
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this might be kind of a weird question lol but according to forums on tortoises and other reptiles, ceramic heat emitters (a piece of ceramic heated to about 200 degrees id say) actually emit a UV radiation...

is this true? where does the radiation come from? is it black body radiation? thermal radiation? ??!
 
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acesuv said:
this might be kind of a weird question lol but according to forums on tortoises and other reptiles, ceramic heat emitters (a piece of ceramic heated to about 200 degrees id say) actually emit a UV radiation...

is this true? where does the radiation come from? is it black body radiation? thermal radiation? ??!
Not sure if we can make a distinction between blackbody and thermal radiation, but this is indeed the source of the radiation. Do you see the ceramic heater glow with visible light? Any emission in the UV range will be weaker than emission in the visible range. I wouldn't worry about such a heater producing any significant or harmful UV.
 
acesuv said:
this might be kind of a weird question lol but according to forums on tortoises and other reptiles, ceramic heat emitters (a piece of ceramic heated to about 200 degrees id say) actually emit a UV radiation...

(Underlining mine)

At 200 degrees the amount of UV radiation emitted from the ceramic should be effectively zero. Heck, you don't get appreciable visible light until 800-900 degrees (F).
 
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