Question 13: Does a light bulb at a temperature of 2500 K produce as white light as the sun at 6000 K? Explain.

ANSWER

No, this is not possible for a light bulb at temperature 2500 K to produce as white light as sun at 6000 K. This is because the brightness of light depends upon the intensity of light and sun light at 6000 K has greater intensity than the light bulb at 2500 K.

Explanation: From Steffen-Boltzmann law the energy radiated per second per unit area of a hot body is directly proportional to the 4^th power of the absolute temperature of the body. Mathematically,

As the temperature rises, the intensity of the emitted light also increases. Therefore, the sun produces more white light (brightness) at 6000 K as compared to the bulb at 2500 K.