Cooling & Radiation Lab
Explore how hot objects lose energy to their surroundings.
Newton's Law of Cooling
This law states that the rate of heat loss of a body is proportional to the temperature difference between the body and its surroundings. A hotter object cools faster. Note: Newton's law is an approximation that works best when the temperature difference is small. This lab models radiation exactly, using the net radiated power $P = \epsilon \sigma A (T^4 - T_{amb}^4)$, so at high temperatures you will see cooling that is even faster than Newton's law predicts.
Stefan-Boltzmann Law
The total power an object radiates is proportional to its surface area, its emissivity (how well it radiates), and most importantly, the fourth power of its temperature ($P \propto \epsilon A T^4$).
Experiment Setup
What's Happening?
Set up your experiment and press Start!