Radiation

Abstract

Our whole study of heat so far has been with reference to matter, randomly energized matter. But matter cannot possess this random energy without setting up a corresponding random energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation. By looking on atoms and molecules as point masses without recognizing their essentially electrical structure, we have missed entirely the possibility of this electrical concomitant of thermal motion. The experimental study of heat cannot go far without revealing the existence of thermal radiation, as a mode of heat transfer. Much less obvious is its nature as electromagnetic radiation. It has the same nature as radio waves, but at the same time has a randomness in energy-distribution akin to that of thermal motion.