I am studying the black body curve currently and am confused about the unit for irradiance. Why is it watts per unit area per unit wavelength working out to be power per unit volume? More specifically why is wavelength included here?
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1$\begingroup$ Irradiance is W/m$^2$, you might be looking at spectral irradiance, which tells you how much is transferred for each wavelength. $\endgroup$– MauricioCommented Apr 14, 2023 at 21:59
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$\begingroup$ The wavelength is there because the Planck's distribution is a distribution in the colours. You could equivalently have considered per unit frequency if you prefer that. Are you also asking why area and wavelength simplifies into volume units? $\endgroup$– naturallyInconsistentCommented Apr 15, 2023 at 2:11
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$\begingroup$ My confusion was with the fact that the greater the wavelength, the lower the irradiance. This also goes the other way, why isn't spectral irradiance large for low wavelengths? $\endgroup$– jay53892Commented Apr 15, 2023 at 13:44
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