What does the Stefan-Boltzmann Law state about radiation intensity (E)?

The Stefan-Boltzmann Law describes how the intensity of radiation emitted by a perfect black body is related to its temperature. Specifically, the law states that the total energy radiated per unit surface area of a black body across all wavelengths is directly proportional to the fourth power of the absolute temperature of the body.

Mathematically, this is expressed as E = σT⁴, where E is the radiation intensity, T is the absolute temperature, and σ is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. This means that if the temperature of the black body increases, the intensity of the radiation increases dramatically, as it is raised to the fourth power. For example, a small increase in temperature results in a much larger increase in radiation intensity.

Understanding this relationship is crucial in various fields of physics and engineering, particularly in thermodynamics and astrophysics, as it explains phenomena such as how stars emit heat and light. The strong dependence on temperature highlights the sensitivity of radiation intensity to changes in temperature, which is key for applications relying on thermal radiation principles.