incandescence

Definition: Radiation of light by a source heated to a sufficiently high temperature at which its radiation is visible. * House-hold tungsten bulbs and tungsten-halogen lamps in e.g. modellling lamps of studio flash are incandescent sources: if heated to lower than working temperatures, they are merely hot i.e. radiate invisible infra-red. * Compare with fluorescent sources, which do not produce light as a result of heat action.

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