Paul I should say your last answer doesn't involve orbitals so it is at least better than the responses from Sam and Bill G. Why do the dam orbitals keep coming up people, give it up.
It's not hard it's pretty much explained in one paragraph in the thermal radiation page lets highlight the key bits
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_radiationThermal radiation is the emission of electromagnetic waves from all matter that has a temperature greater than absolute zero.[3] It represents a conversion of thermal energy into electromagnetic energy. Thermal energy consists of the kinetic energy of random movements of atoms and molecules in matter. All matter with a temperature by definition is composed of particles which have kinetic energy, and which interact with each other. These atoms and molecules are composed of charged particles, i.e., protons and electrons, and kinetic interactions among matter particles result in charge-acceleration and dipole-oscillation. This results in the electrodynamic generation of coupled electric and magnetic fields, resulting in the emission of photons, radiating energy away from the body through its surface boundary. Electromagnetic radiation, including light, does not require the presence of matter to propagate and travels in the vacuum of space infinitely far if unobstructed.
It's pretty dam simple even a layman should be able to understand it yet somehow the layman keep bringing us back to the stupid atomic orbitals.
Single charged particles clumped together will give off thermal emission and they don't even have any orbitals ... it has nothing to do with orbitals.
CHARGE PARTICLE + MOVEMENT is the answer for goodness sake it's not rocket science people. I have never seen layman make such a simple thing so hard, have none of you ever moved a magnet near a wire at school and measured what happens?
If I see one more post about thermal emission that includes the word orbital or electrons, I think I will request AR2 to ban the person for gross stupidity.
The thermal emission is because lots of charged particles are jiggling around being accelerated and decelerated and because of that they emit EM. You make them hot they jiggle more and emit more .... NOT HARD PEOPLE.
Funny conclusion to that if you are smart is waving your hand gives off EM
Someone even got it right here ... something that would never happen on this forum.
http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/200217/can-i-produce-radio-waves-by-waving-my-handSo the take home lesson is there are hundreds of ways to produce EM and very few involve orbitals.
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