PROBLEM 4.

KNOWN: Uniform media of prescribed geometry.

FIND: (a) Shape factor expressions from thermal resistance relations for the plane wall, cylindrical
shell and spherical shell, (b) Shape factor expression for the isothermal sphere of diameter D buried in
an infinite medium.
ASSUMPTIONS: (1) Steady-state conditions, (2) Uniform properties.
ANALYSIS: (a) The relationship between the shape factor and thermal resistance of a shape follows
from their definitions in terms of heat rates and overall temperature differences.
ΔT
q = kSΔT ( 4.20 ) , q= ( 3.19 ) , S = 1/ kR t (4.21)
Rt
Using the thermal resistance relations developed in Chapter 3, their corresponding shape factors are:

L A
Plane wall: Rt =
kA
S=
L
. <

ln ( r2 / r1 ) 2π L
Cylindrical shell: Rt =
2π Lk
S=
lnr2 / r1.
<
(L into the page)

1 ⎡1 1 ⎤ 4π
Spherical shell: Rt = ⎢ − ⎥
4π k ⎣ r1 r2 ⎦
S=
l/r1 − l/r2
. <

(b) The shape factor for the sphere of diameter D in an

infinite medium can be derived using the alternative
conduction analysis of Section 3.2. For this situation, qr is
a constant and Fourier’s law has the form

(
q r = −k 4π r 2)dT
dr
.
Separate variables, identify limits and integrate.
∞
∞ dr q ⎡ 1⎤ q ⎡ 2⎤
− r ∫ D / 2 2 = ∫ T1 dT
q T2
− r ⎢ − ⎥ = − r ⎢ 0 − ⎥ = ( T2 − T1 )
4π k r 4π k ⎣ r ⎦ D/2 4π k ⎣ D⎦
⎡D⎤
q r = 4π k ⎢ ⎥ ( T1 − T2 ) or S = 2π D. <
⎣2⎦

COMMENTS: Note that the result for the buried sphere, S = 2πD, can be obtained from the
expression for the spherical shell with r2 = ∞. Also, the shape factor expression for the “isothermal
sphere buried in a semi-infinite medium” presented in Table 4.1 provides the same result with z → ∞.