Physics: Doubling Temperature Means 16× Radiation

Every object radiates thermal energy as infrared radiation, and the power it emits depends dramatically on both its temperature and its surface. The Stefan-Boltzmann law, P = εσAT⁴, captures this: emitted power rises with the fourth power of absolute temperature, so doubling T increases radiation sixteenfold, while emissivity ε describes how effectively a surface emits compared with a perfect black body. This matters because real surfaces differ enormously. A matt-black surface has ε close to 1, absorbing and emitting infrared efficiently, whereas polished silver has ε far below 1, reflecting most incident radiation and emitting much less at the same temperature. Comparing identical cubes side by side therefore isolates how temperature and surface finish each shape radiative heat loss, linking the steep T⁴ curve to the emissivity gap between the two surfaces.