Wiens Displacement Constant

The Wien's Displacement constant is 2.8977729 x 10^-3 m•K

Related Calculators

• Black Body Temperature from Peak Wavelength

General Information

Wien's displacement law states that the black body radiation curve for different temperatures peaks at a wavelength inversely proportional to the temperature. The shift of that peak is a direct consequence of the Planck radiation law, which describes the spectral brightness of black body radiation as a function of wavelength at any given temperature. However, it had been discovered by 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, Wien's displacement law states that the spectral radiance of black body radiation per unit wavelength, peaks at the wavelength λmax given by:

   ` λ_max = b /T `

where 

• T is the absolute temperature in kelvins.
• b is a constant of proportionality called Wien's displacement constant, equal to 2.8977729(17)×10−3 m⋅K[1], or more conveniently to obtain wavelength in micrometers, b ≈ 2900 μm·K. 

If one is considering the peak of black body emission per unit frequency or per proportional bandwidth, one must use a different proportionality constant. However, the form of the law remains the same: the peak wavelength is inversely proportional to temperature (or the peak frequency is directly proportional to temperature).

Wien's displacement law may be referred to as "Wien's law", a term which is also used for the Wien approximation.

Astronomy Calculators

• Absolute Temperature of Black Body from Peak Wavelength 
• Kepler's 3^rd Law formula T² = (4π • R³)/(G • M)
  • (M) - mass of the system. 
  • (T) - period of the orbit.
  • (R) - separation distance between the two objects.
  • (G) - universal gravity constant
• Small Angle Formula
  • (α) - angle
  • (D) - distance to astronomical object
  • (S) - size or diameter of astronomical object
• Flux and Magnitude formulas
  • Change in Magnitude from Flux Ratio
  • Flux Ratio from Magnitudes
• Telescope formulas
  • Resolving Power of a Telescope
  • Magnification of a Telescope
• Mass formulas
  • Mass from Luminosity
  • Mass from Acceleration and Radius
  • Mass from Speed and Separation
  • Mass of extra-solar planet from mass of star, radius of star orbit and radius of exoplanet orbit
  • Mass of extra-solar planet from mass and velocity of star and velocity of planet
• Relative Size Formulas
  • Relative Size from Relative Temperature and Luminosity
  • Relative Temperature from Relative Size and Luminosity
  • Relative Luminosity from Relative Temperature and Size
• Wavelength Formulas
  • Velocity from shift in Wavelength and Unshifted Wavelength
  • Wavelength Shift from Wavelength and Speed
  • Blackbody Wavelength from Temperature
  • Blackbody Temperature from Peak Wavelength
  • Photon Energy from Wavelength
  • Photon Wavelength from Energy
• Luminosity and other Formulas
  • Distance from absolute and apparent magnitude
  • Radius from Speed and Period
  • Speed of Circular Motion
  • Hubble Time
  • Luminosity from Mass

Related Astro Calculators:

• Hubble's Law
• Kepler's 3^rd Law Calc has Kepler's 3^rd law solved for each parameter.
• Astronomy Calculator contains basic formulas for a college level Introduction to Astronomy
• Exoplanet Calculator contains formulas for studying planets outside of our Solar System.
• Astronomical Distance Calculator provides the distance from the Earth to numerous astronomical bodies (e.g. Sun, Moon, planets, stars, Milky Way's Center and Edge, Andromeda Galaxy)
• Astronomical Distance Travel Time Calculator computes the time to travel to distant parts of space at different velocities.
• Ellipse Calculator
• 3D Vector Calculator:
• Drake Equation Calculator
• Seager Equation Calculator
• Friedman Equation Calculator

References

The general information above is, in part, from Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wien's_displacement_law).