In this article we propose an activity aimed at introductory students to help them understand the Stefan-Boltzmann and Wien's displacement laws. It only requires simple materials that are available at any school: an incandescent lamp, a variable dc energy supply, and a computer to run an interactive simulation of the blackbody spectrum. Essentially, the activity consists of calculating the filament's temperature for different values of electric power and comparing the color and brightness of the lamp's light, as seen by the eye, with the correspondent (simulated) black-body spectrum. Although the comparison is only qualitative, we find that the activity provides a tangible introduction to blackbody radiation.

Topics
Energy production, transmission and distribution, Blackbody, Thermodynamic states and processes, Visible spectra, Black body radiation, Electric power, Optical properties, Educational assessment, Education, Teaching
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