Blackbody radiation, also called thermal radiation, is not an electronic process. Rather, it is radiation emitted by any substance with a nonzero energy density.
You hinted earlier that the material around a blackbody might be stripped of electrons (i.e., ionized). This must certainly be the case, since the temperature of infalling material around a blackbody is much higher than the ionization temperature of hydrogen. Given that all the energy levels are empty, shouldn't an electronic emission from this material be impossible anyway?
The remarkable thing about thermal emission is that the spectrum doesn't depend on what kind of material is emitting. Check out this equation for the wavelength of peak emission of a blackbody spectrum:
T lambda_max = 0.002898 Kelvin meters
This equation suggests that getting X-rays from thermal emission is just a matter of getting the temperature high enough. To get 100 eV emission, for example, you need a temperature of about 250,000 Kelvin.
Slashdot Mirror
FTFY.
I beg your pardon, but you're wrong on this point.
Check out the Wikipedia article on blackbody radiation.
Blackbody radiation, also called thermal radiation, is not an electronic process. Rather, it is radiation emitted by any substance with a nonzero energy density.
You hinted earlier that the material around a blackbody might be stripped of electrons (i.e., ionized). This must certainly be the case, since the temperature of infalling material around a blackbody is much higher than the ionization temperature of hydrogen. Given that all the energy levels are empty, shouldn't an electronic emission from this material be impossible anyway?
The remarkable thing about thermal emission is that the spectrum doesn't depend on what kind of material is emitting. Check out this equation for the wavelength of peak emission of a blackbody spectrum:
This equation suggests that getting X-rays from thermal emission is just a matter of getting the temperature high enough. To get 100 eV emission, for example, you need a temperature of about 250,000 Kelvin.
Hmm...
According to counter.li.org, there were about 20,000 new linux users between 2002-2003.
If 1% of them buy a computer and go to court for a refund, and a quarter of them succeed for $199...
That's just under $1,000,000.