Wien Displacement Law Calculator

Work out wien displacement law instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Wien Displacement Law Calculator

Wien's displacement law puts the peak of a black body's spectrum at lambda = 2.898e-3/T metres. The Sun's 5778 K photosphere peaks at 501 nm, in the green - which is why our vision is centred there. A 300 K room peaks at 9.7 microns, deep in the infrared where thermal cameras operate.

Formulas

Wien's displacement law

lambda(peak) = 2.8978e-3 / T

Frequency form

f(peak) = 2.8214 k T / h

Worked example

With the default values below, Wien Displacement Law Calculator returns Peak Wavelength of 501.52. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Absolute temperatureminimum 0 K: 5,778 K
Report the peak asone of Peak wavelength, Peak frequency: Peak wavelength

Results

Peak Wavelength: 501.52 nm
Peak Frequency: 3.3968 × 10¹⁴ Hz
Peak Wavelength In Metres: 5.0152 × 10⁻⁷
Spectral Band: Visible light

Step by step

1Values used
2Wien's displacement law
3Frequency form
4Peak Wavelength= 501.52 nm
5Peak Frequency= 339,684,000,000,000.0000 Hz
6Peak Wavelength In Metres= 0.0000
7Spectral Band= Visible light

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 2 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 4 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do the wavelength and frequency peaks disagree?

Because they peak in different spectral densities - per unit wavelength versus per unit frequency. Converting one peak into the other is not valid.

What temperature glows red?

Around 1000 K the peak is at 2.9 microns but the visible tail is red. Metal glows visibly red from about 800 K.