Re: [Phys-L] Fictitious Mathalon.

[David Bowman <David_Bowman@georgetowncollege.edu>]

Regarding where I wrote:

> ... From the functional form of the wavelength-dependent Planck
> distribution function, I(λ,T), one can see that it can be
> written in the suggestive form: I(λ,T)= (T^5)*F(λ*T) where F(x)
> is a function of a single variable argument.  This means a graph
> of I vs λ for a fixed T has a width that inversely proportional
> to T since the argument, λ, appears only in the product λ*T in
> the function. ....

I forgot to mention that the Wien Displacement Law: λ_max = b/T where b is a constant (actually b = 2.897771955... mm·K) is also just a special case of the above inverse proportionality.  Because the whole width of the graph (measured from the fixed intensity axis, λ = 0) is inversely proportional to the absolute temperature this means the horizontal position of λ_max is also so inversely proportional, since the peak's position moves horizontally proportionally with the rest of the function as its overall width inflates and deflates with changes in the absolute temperature.

David Bowman