Question

Which of the following best describes the ultraviolet catastrophe of blackbody radiation?

A. As energy is added to an object acting as a blackbody radiator, its emissions move to the ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

B. As energy is added to an object acting as a blackbody radiator, its emissions remain in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

C. As energy is added to an object acting as a blackbody radiator, its emissions become radioactive and dangerous to humans.

D. As energy is added to an object acting as a blackbody radiator, it ceases to emit any radiation and the added energy ignites the object.

Answer 1

A. As energy is added to an object acting as a blackbody radiator, its emissions move to the ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Step-by-step explanation:

In order to study the light emitted by the hot bodies, a model was proposed in which the idea was to perform the calculations only of the radiation produced by the thermal agitation of the body. Such a body should absorb all the radiation that came to it and could not reflect it. Thus, the body would have to be totally black, hence the name of the model: blackbody radiation.

First, we have to really understand what blackbody radiation is. When we warm a body, it emits electromagnetic radiation. Thus we can say that the spectrum of this radiation depends on the body temperature. For example, the furnace of a steel industry or the sun produces radiation through thermal agitation. If we look at the red coal, we actually see the blackbody radiation of a body at very high temperature.

From this context, it was stated that as energy is added to an object that acts as a blackbody radiator, its emissions move to the ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Answer 2

The ultraviolet ctastrophe in general refers to the fact that a blackbody emits an infinite amount of energy when in balance due to some errors in calculations in the early years of quantum physics. Thus, as energy is added, its emissions go to infinity in the ultraviolet spectrum and it releases infinite energy. This was solved later by Planck. The correct answer is A;