Which physical law links known luminosity and temperature to calculate a star's radius?
Answer
Stefan-Boltzmann law
The physical dimension of a star's radius, or physical size, is calculated using the Stefan-Boltzmann law once the star's intrinsic luminosity and surface temperature are known. This law provides the mathematical relationship connecting total energy radiated per unit surface area (which depends on temperature to the fourth power) with the star's total surface area (which depends on its radius). This is vital because while temperature and luminosity are observable results, radius is a physical dimension that is often difficult to measure directly for distant stars.
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