Lecture 24: Matter and Light
How do matter and light interact? This lecture is the first of a\ntwo-part lecture on the physical basis of spectroscopy. Today we will\ndiscuss the Kelvin Absolute Temperature scale, which provides a measure\nof the internal energy content of matter, and Kirchoff's empirical Laws\nof Spectroscopy, along with the Stefan-Boltzmann Law and the Wein Law to\ndescribe the continuous emission from a blackbody. We will end by\nbriefly describing the suggestive properties of emission- and\nabsorption-line spectra, whose explanation in the details of atomic\nstructure will be the topic of the next lecture. Recorded 2006 Oct 25\nin 100 Stillman Hall on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State\nUniversity.