Heat Transfer

CONDUCTION
• The process of transmission of energy from
one particle of the medium to another with
the particles being in direct contact with each
other. Conduction is also known as thermal
conduction or heat conduction.
 Conduction Equation
• The rate of conduction can be calculated by the following
equation:

• Where,
• Q is the transfer of heat per unit time
• K is the thermal conductivity of the body
• A is the area of heat transfer
• Thot is the temperature of the hot region
• Tcold is the temperature of the cold region
• d is the thickness of the body
• The coefficient of thermal conductivity shows that a metal
body conducts heat better when it comes to conduction.
 Conduction Examples

• Ironing of clothes is an example of conduction

where the heat is conducted from the iron to
the clothes.
• Heat is transferred from hands to ice cube
resulting in the melting of an ice cube when
held in hands.
• Heat conduction through the sand at the
beaches. This can be experienced during
summers. Sand is a good conductor of heat
 Convection
Convection is the process of heat transfer by the
bulk movement of molecules within fluids such as
gases and liquids. The initial heat transfer
between the object and the fluid takes place
through conduction, but the bulk heat transfer
happens due to the motion of the fluid.
• Convection is the process of heat transfer in fluids
by the actual motion of matter.
• It happens in liquids and gases.
• It may be natural or forced.
• It involves a bulk transfer of portions of the fluid.
 How is Heat Transferred through
Convection?
When a fluid is heated from below, thermal
expansion takes place. The lower layers of the
fluid, which are hotter, become less dense. We
know that colder fluid is denser.
Due to buoyancy, the less dense, hotter part of
the fluid rises up. And the colder, denser fluid
replaces it.
This process is repeated when this part also gets
heated and rises up to be replaced by the colder
upper layer. This is how the heat is transferred
through convection.
 Types of Convection

• Natural convection: When convection takes place due

to buoyant force as there is a difference in densities
caused by the difference in temperatures it is known as
natural convection.
• Examples of natural convection are oceanic winds.
• Forced convection: When external sources such as fans
and pumps are used for creating induced convection, it
is known as forced convection.
• Examples of forced convection are using water heaters
or geysers for instant heating of water and using a fan
on a hot summer day.
• Sea breeze: This phenomenon occurs during the day. The
sun heats up both the sea surface and land. As the sea has
a greater heating capacity, it absorbs much of the sun’s
energy but gets warmed up much slower than the land. As
a result, the temperature above the land rises and heats
the air in the atmosphere above it. Warm air is less dense,
and hence, it expands, creating a low-pressure area over
the land near the coast. Meanwhile, there is relatively high
pressure over the sea. The difference in air pressure causes
the air to flow from sea to land. The sudden gush of wind
felt due to this is known as the sea breeze.
• Land Breeze: This phenomenon occurs during the night
when the situation reverses. As the sun sets, the land and
sea start cooling down. The land quickly loses heat when
compared to water due to the differences in heat capacity.
Consequently, the temperature of the sea is relatively
higher, which creates low air pressure there. This sets up a
flow of cool breeze offshore, known as the land breeze.
 RADIATION
• Radiant heat is present in some or other form in our
daily lives. Thermal radiations are referred to as radiant
heat. Thermal radiation is generated by the emission
of electromagnetic waves. These waves carry away the
energy from the emitting body. Radiation takes place
through a vacuum or transparent medium which can
be either solid or liquid. Thermal radiation is the result
of the random motion of molecules in matter. The
movement of charged electrons and protons is
responsible for the emission of electromagnetic
radiation. Let us know more about radiation heat
transfer.
• Radiation heat transfer is measured by a device known
as thermocouple. A thermocouple is used for
measuring the temperature.
 Radiation Example

• Microwave radiation emitted in the oven is an

example of radiation.
• UV rays coming from the sun is an example of
radiation.
• The release of alpha particles during the
decaying of Uranium-238 into Thorium-234 is
an example of radiation.
BLACK BODY RADIATION
 Perfectly black body
• A perfectly black body is one which absorbs all the heat
radiations of whatever wavelength incident on it. It neither
reflects nor transmits any of the incident radiation and
therefore appears black, whatever the colour of the
incident radiation.
• In actual practice, no natural object possesses strictly the
properties of a perfectly black body. But the lamp-black and
platinum black are a good approximation of black body.
They absorb about 99 % of the incident radiation. The most
simple and commonly used black body was designed by
Fery. It consists of an enclosure with a small opening which
is painted black from the inside. The opening acts as a
perfect black body.
• Any radiation that falls on the opening goes inside and has
very little chance of escaping the enclosure before getting
absorbed through multiple reflections. The cone opposite
to the opening ensures that no radiation is reflected back
directly.
Characteristics of Blackbody Radiation
The characteristics of the blackbody radiation
are explained with the help of the following
laws:
Wien’s law states that, the wavelength
of maximum intensity of emission of a black
body radiation is inversely proportional to the
absolute temperature of the black body.
It implies that if temperature of the body increases, maximal intensity
wavelength ( λm ) shifts towards lower wavelength (higher frequency) of
electromagnetic spectrum
 Stefan-Boltzmann Law

• The Stefan-Boltzmann law explains the

relationship between total energy emitted and
the absolute temperature.