blackbody

American  

[blak-bod-ee] / ˈblækˈbɒd i /

noun

Physics.

PLURAL

blackbodies

1. a hypothetical body that absorbs without reflection all of the electromagnetic radiation incident on its surface and then, depending on temperature, emits its own thermal radiation.

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blackbody Scientific  

/ blăk′bŏd′ē /

1. A theoretically perfect absorber and emitter of every frequency of electromagnetic radiation. The radiation emitted by a blackbody is a function only of its temperature.

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blackbody Cultural  

1. An object that can absorb and send off radiation with complete efficiency — that is, it reflects (see reflection) none of the radiation that falls on it. The higher the object's temperature, the higher the frequency of the radiation it gives off.

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Etymology

Origin of blackbody

First recorded in 1700–10

Example Sentences

Over time they developed the concept of a “blackbody,” an object that perfectly absorbs all radiation that hits it.

From Scientific American

You know, back then, back then it was the blackbody radiation.

From Salon

Courses on quantum mechanics usually retrace its historical development, during which physicists devised “a complicated patchwork of ideas” to account for experimental anomalies like the blackbody paradox.

From Scientific American

One of the well-known historical examples involves the discovery of the Planck spectrum of blackbody radiation, which could not have been explained by classical physics and which ushered in quantum mechanics.

From Scientific American

His best-known work included his collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularities, the prediction that black holes emit blackbody radiation, and the best-selling book A Brief History of Time.

From The Verge