Activity 3: Making thermal radiation visible

Dr. Cecilia Scorza and Moritz Strähle
Status: Mar 2023
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All bodies emit heat radiation (or thermal radiation) - however, this is only visible to the human eye at higher temperatures. The thermal radiation of the human body, like the thermal radiation of the earth, is invisible to us - it lies in the infrared range and can only be made visible with a thermal imaging camera.

In its properties, thermal radiation also differs from visible light: while thermal radiation is intercepted by glass and greenhouse gases, for example, visible light passes through these materials unhindered.

  1. Part: Can we make thermal radiation visible?
  2. Part: Which materials are transparent for visible light, which for infrared radiation?

ACTIVITY MATERIALS

 

More materials like h5p-study units, videos and animations with Module - The Greenhouse effect and the radiative Equilibrium.

Ausgearbeitete Lerneinheiten:

Gymnasium

Hier finden Sie die gleiche Aktivität nur mit Wellenlängen anstatt Photonen:

Realschule

Video: Making thermal radiation visible

Technical questions and didactic comments

 

Do you have a technical question about the experiment? Get in touch with us! We will gladly try to answer your question or forward it to an expert in our network. Answers to central or frequently asked questions will be published here.

Are you missing an important reference? Please get in touch with us! We will be happy to take your suggestion and expand this compilation.