alleryStart learning →A hotter glowing object radiates its peak power at which wavelengths?
ALonger wavelengths
BThe same wavelength
COnly radio wavelengths
DShorter wavelengths
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. Shorter wavelengths
1. Temperature measures how fast the particles inside a body are moving.
2. Faster particles give off more energetic waves.
3. More energetic means shorter wavelength, so the peak slides toward the blue end.
4. You see this on a stove ring, which glows dull red first and brighter orange when hotter.
_Source: OpenStax Astronomy (CC BY 4.0), Ch 4 "Earth, Moon, and Sky" and Ch 5 "Radiation and Spectra", section 5.2 The Electromagnetic Spectrum_
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