Black-body radiation

Imagine you are sitting in front of a big, hot stove. As you sit there, you feel the heat coming from the stove, even though you aren't touching it. The heat is actually a kind of energy that is being given off by the stove. This same kind of energy is also given off by other things that are really hot, like a light bulb or even the Sun.

This energy is called radiation. When something is really hot, it gives off a lot of radiation. And when something is really, really hot, it gives off a special kind of radiation called black-body radiation. This kind of radiation is given off by things that are so hot that they are glowing with heat.

Now, imagine that you are holding a toy car. If you look at the car, you can tell what color it is, right? But did you know that the color of the car actually has to do with how it gives off radiation? When light hits an object, some of the light is reflected off the object and some of it is absorbed by the object. The part that is absorbed is then turned into heat energy and given off as radiation.

Now, if you had a special kind of toy car that was so hot that it was glowing with heat, it would give off a lot of radiation. And this radiation would actually have a color too. Scientists have found that every temperature - from very cold things to very hot things - has its own specific color of radiation. When something is really, really hot, like a star or a really hot light bulb, it gives off a color of radiation that doesn't depend on anything else. This kind of radiation is called black-body radiation.

So, to summarize: when things get hot, they give off energy in the form of radiation. When things get really hot and start glowing with heat, they give off a special kind of radiation called black-body radiation, which has its own unique color depending on the temperature of the object.