Tim Thompson
Muse
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
- Messages
- 969
Using math & iron surface reflection
Absolutely false & absolutely unacceptable. Quite the contrary, using math to get from A to B, even without an experiment to back it up, is just as good science as using experiments. Just as good. And this is especially the case in light of highly advanced and capable computer models available today. Indeed, there are many scientific questions that cannot be answered at all except by computer model, such as the dynamical behavior of a billion particle galaxy, or the dynamical behavior of a climate system. You might work in a lab, but you obviously do not appreciate the full scope & full grasp of science.And using math to get from point A to B without an experiment to back it up is not good science, especially with computer models these days..
No, the reflection factor depends on the intensity & wavelength of the source, and the reflectivity at that wavelength of the surface; the reflection factor has nothing at all to do with the intensity of the blackbody. But aside from the reflection factor at the surface, you also have to consider the opacity or transparency of the material that the reflected radiation has to pass through before it gets to you or your measuring device. That's why I said ...And that the reflection factor depends on the intensity of the source and the intensity of the blackbody.
For one thing, if the surface is mostly iron, as Mozina and perhaps brantc seem to think, then I would expect very little reflection, simply because 171 Å is an iron emission line, and anything iron emits it will also absorb. I would expect the vast majority of any 171 Å radiation incident on an iron surface to disappear in the act of ionizing the iron, with only a small fraction being reflected back. And as DD points out, any of that reflected radiation is subject to being absorbed or scattered by the overlying plasma. The result is likely to be an un-observably small amount for us to see.