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Science

Wien's Displacement Law Calculator (Blackbody Peak)

Wien's displacement law states that the wavelength of peak spectral radiance for a blackbody at temperature T satisfies λ_max × T = b. The tool works both ways — solve for the peak wavelength and frequency from a given temperature, or invert a measured peak back to an equivalent blackbody temperature. It tags the electromagnetic band of the answer (visible, IR, UV, etc.) and underlies solar spectra, thermal imaging, stellar colour temperature and the cosmic microwave background.

Result

Peak wavelength λ_max

501.5 nm

Peak frequency

3.40 × 10¹⁴ Hz

Electromagnetic band

Uses CODATA recommended b = 2.897 771 955 × 10⁻³ m·K. The frequency peak is from the per-Hz spectrum (α·k_B·T/h, α ≈ 2.8214) — not related to the wavelength peak by c = f·λ.

Formula

λ_max = b / T, with b ≈ 2.897 771 955 × 10⁻³ m·K (Wien displacement constant, CODATA value)

Frequently asked

The sun is 5778 K and Wien predicts peak at ~500 nm (green) — so why does it look yellow / white?

Two reasons. First, the "peak wavelength" is only the maximum of the Planck distribution — it is not monochromatic. The solar spectrum is wide, with strong intensity from UV through far IR, and the human eye's three-cone weighting (CIE 1931) integrates the full spectrum. A near-blackbody at ~5800 K (close to the D65 illuminant) is registered as white, not green. Second, the sun we see from the surface has been through the atmosphere: shorter wavelengths are Rayleigh-scattered out (∝ 1/λ⁴), so the direct beam at noon looks slightly yellow (and the scattered light gives the blue sky). From space the sun is essentially pure white, as confirmed in Apollo and ISS imagery. Wien's "peak in the green" is a correct physical fact; "what colour the eye reports" is a separate question of physiology plus atmospheric optics.

Why can I not just use c = f·λ to convert the wavelength peak into a frequency peak?

Because the Planck spectrum can be written in two different densities — B_λ(λ, T) is the radiant power *per unit wavelength* (W·m⁻²·sr⁻¹·m⁻¹), B_f(f, T) is *per unit frequency* (W·m⁻²·sr⁻¹·Hz⁻¹). They are related by the Jacobian |dλ/df| = c / f², so B_λ ≠ B_f × c / λ² and their maxima occur at different values of the independent variable. For the sun at 5778 K, B_λ peaks at λ ≈ 502 nm — converting that with f = c / λ gives 5.97 × 10¹⁴ Hz; but B_f actually peaks at f ≈ 3.40 × 10¹⁴ Hz, which corresponds to c / f ≈ 882 nm (near-IR). That is hundreds of nm apart, not a rounding error. Physically it just means the spectrum "sliced by wavelength" and "sliced by frequency" look different — which one you use depends on how your detector measures the spectrum. Grating spectrographs report per-wavelength; radio telescopes report per-frequency.

Why do thermal-imaging cameras typically use the 8–14 µm band?

Three reasons. First, by Wien's law, ambient-temperature objects (body 310 K, room ~300 K, machinery 320–400 K) have peak emission near 8–10 µm — a camera should be most sensitive where its targets radiate most strongly. Second, the earth's atmosphere has two important IR transmission windows: 3–5 µm (MWIR) and 8–14 µm (LWIR), where water-vapour and CO₂ absorption is lowest and radiation propagates through metres-to-kilometres of air. The LWIR window lines up with the Wien peak of bodies and indoor objects, which is why nearly all civilian thermal cameras (FLIR, Seek, building-insulation surveys, night-vision) use LWIR. Third, LWIR penetrates smoke, fog and haze better than MWIR or visible (scattering ∝ 1/λ⁴), making it standard for firefighting and military night vision. MWIR can be more sensitive but typically needs cooled detectors and is used for missile-seeker heads and hot industrial scenes (furnaces, glass) above ~1000 K — again, picked because Wien's law places those targets' peaks right inside the MWIR window.

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