The equation of heat conduction

Date (September 10, 2013)

Derivation of the heat equation in 1-dimensional rod

Consider a long rod, with cross-sectional area A. Assume that all properties of the rod are
uniform on cross-sections and may only vary on the lengthwise direction. This allows us to
represent the rod as the interval (a, b). Let x (a, b) denote an interior point of the rod;
x = a and x = b represent the end points, respectively. Let t (0, ) represent time. We
denote the initial time t = 0.
We assume that the rod has an internal energy, heat energy or thermal energy due to some
internal physical process (e.g., the random motion of its particles at the atomic level). We also
assume that energy can be gained or lost across the boundary of the rod. Let us introduce
two physical quantities:
e(x, t) : energy density. Units:
(x, t): heat flux. Units:

energy
.
volume

energy
.
area x time

The Heat Flux (x.t) is the amount of thermal energy flowing across a given surface. per unit
area and per unit time.
Question: Suppose that water is flowing on a pipe of cross-section A. Assume that C cubic
meters of water enter the pipe in 1 hour. What is the water flux through a mid-crossection of
the pipe?
Convention:
> 0 if heat is flowing to the right and < 0 if heat is flowing to the left
We postulate the following law of balance of energy:
The rate of change of heat energy inside the rod = heat flowing across boundaries
per unit time + heat generated inside per unit time
Let Q be the amount of heat per unit volume and per unit time generated inside the rod.
Then, the statement of balance of energy reads:

(e(x, t)A4x) (x, t) (x + 4x, t) + QA4x.

t

(1)

Increasingly better approximations will be achieved as 4x 0. So,

Divide both sides by A4x,
Take limits as 4x 0.
This gives:

(x, t) (x + 4x, t)
e(x, t) = lim
+ Q.
4x0
t
4x
1

(2)

Equivalently,

e(x, t) =
+ Q.
(3)
t
x
To obtain the balance of energy on the entire rod, we integrate both sides from x = a to
x = b. This shows the advantage that does not have to be differentiable.

1.1

Temperature and specific heat

First of all, note that the previous equation has two unknown functions: and e. So, we
need more information in order to relate them and achieve an equation for a single unknown
variable. Let us appeal to physical properties of heat and temperature. For this, we define:
u(x, t) denotes the temperature at the location x of the rod, at time t.
c > 0 represents the amount of heat that must be supplied to a unit mass of a substance
to raise its temperature one unit.
(x, t) represents the mass density (mass/volume) of the substance.
Here we use the physical statement that providing heat raises the temperature of the material:
e(x, t)A4x = c(x)(A4x(x))u(x, t).

(4)

e(x, t) = c(x)(x)u(x, t).

(5)

So,
Substituting it into the heat equation, we get
c(x)(x)

=
+ Q.
t
x

(6)

Now, we apply Fouriers Law: Heat flows from not to cold,

= K0

u
,
x

K0 > 0.

(7)

So, finally we get the heat equation:

u
2u
= K 2 + Q,
t
x

K=

K0
,
c

(8)

where K is known and the thermal diffusivity Without heat sources, it becomes
u
2u
= K 2.
t
x

(9)

If heat is initially concentrated in one place, this equation describes how the heat energy
spreads out, a physical process known as diffusion.
Diffusion is the spreading out of a property; it does not involve actual motion of molecules
as in flow or convection. Pollutants, perfumes, ... diffuse through air.
2

1.2

Initial and boundary conditions

Note that equation (9) involves a first-order time derivative and a second order space derivative. Suppose that u(x, t) is a smooth solution of the equation. (For now, we require u(x, t)
2
to have continuous second order derivative xu2 , for all x (a, b), t (0, ), and a continuous
first derivative u
for all x (a, b), t (0, ). So, following our intuition from the theory of
t
ordinary differential equations, we prescribe,
An initial condition, that is, a function f (x), x (a, b) such that u(x, 0) = f (x), for
all x (a, b), and
Boundary conditions at x = a and x = b.
There are several ways to prescribe boundary conditions, according to the significance of the
problem:
Dirichlet boundary conditions: set u(a, t) = u1 (t), and u(b, t) = u2 (t), for all t (0, ),
where u1 and u2 are prescribed continuous functions. This corresponds to prescribing
the temperature, for all time, at both ends of the bar.
(a, t) = 0, and u
(b, t) = 0, for all
Homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions: u
x
x
t (a.b). This corresponds to keeping the bar insulated from heat at both ends (Why?).
Prescribe boundary conditions as in the previous item, but with values other than zero
(i.e., prescribe a heat flux, for all time.)
Any combination of two of the above conditions.
Next topic:

1.3

The heat equation in three-space dimensions