Wilhelm wien blackbody curves

Relation between peak wavelengths of black body radiation and temperature

Not to be confused with Wien distribution law.

In physics, Wien's displacement law states that the black-body radiation curve for different temperatures will peak at different wavelengths that are inversely proportional to the temperature.

Wilhelm wien blackbody curves

The shift of that peak is a direct consequence of the Planck radiation law, which describes the spectral brightness or intensity of black-body radiation as a function of wavelength at any given temperature. However, it had been discovered by German physicist Wilhelm Wien several years before Max Planck developed that more general equation, and describes the entire shift of the spectrum of black-body radiation toward shorter wavelengths as temperature increases.

Formally, the wavelength version of Wien's displacement law states that the spectral radiance of black-body radiation per unit wavelength, peaks at the wavelength given by: where T