UNDERSTANDING HEAT

TRANSFER,
CONDUCTION,
CONVECTION AND
RADIATION
HEAT TRANSFER
• HEAT ALWAYS MOVES FROM A
WARMER PLACE TO A COOLER PLACE.
• HOT OBJECTS IN A COOLER ROOM
WILL COOL TO ROOM TEMPERATURE.
• COLD OBJECTS IN A WARMER ROOM
WILL HEAT UP TO ROOM
TEMPERATURE.
HEAT TRANSFER METHODS

HEAT TRANSFERS IN THREE

WAYS:
• CONDUCTION
• CONVECTION
• RADIATION
CONDUCTION
• CONDUCTION IS THE TRANSFER OF ENERGY BY
THE MOVEMENT OF PARTICLES THAT ARE IN
CONTACT WITH EACH OTHER.
• A MATERIAL WHICH PROVIDES GOOD CONDUCTION
IS CALLED A CONDUCTOR(COPPER WIRE, METALS),
WHILE MATERIALS THAT PROVIDE POOR
CONDUCTION ARE CALLED INSULATORS (MOST
NON-METALLIC SOLIDS).

HEAT CONDUCTION
• HEAT CONDUCTION CAN BE UNDERSTOOD, ON THE
ATOMIC LEVEL, AS PARTICLES PHYSICALLY
TRANSFERRING THE HEAT ENERGY AS THEY COME
IN PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH NEIGHBORING
PARTICLES.
 CONDUCTION
When you heat a metal strip at one end, the heat travels to the
other end.

As you heat the metal, the particles vibrate, these

vibrations make the adjacent particles vibrate, and so on
and so on, the vibrations are passed along the metal and
so is the heat.
 WHY DOES METAL FEEL COLDER THAN
WOOD, IF THEY ARE BOTH AT THE SAME
TEMPERATURE?
• METAL IS A CONDUCTOR, WOOD IS
AN INSULATOR. METAL CONDUCTS
THE HEAT AWAY FROM YOUR HANDS.
WOOD DOES NOT CONDUCT THE HEAT
AWAY FROM YOUR HANDS, SO THE
WOOD FEELS WARMER THAN THE
METAL.
CONDUCTION EQUATION

HOW FAST CONDUCTION HAPPENS DEPENDS

ON SEVERAL FACTORS:
• WHAT MATERIAL THE OBJECTS ARE MADE
FROM
• THE SURFACE AREA OF THE TWO OBJECTS
IN CONTACT
• THE DIFFERENCE IN TEMPERATURE
BETWEEN THE TWO OBJECTS
• THE THICKNESSES OF THE TWO OBJECTS
CONDUCTION EQUATION

Temperature of the other

Rate of Heat Transfer
Temperature of one
object

•  
=
Thermal Conductivity
of the material
Thickness of the material
 CONDUCTION EXAMPLE

LET'S SAY YOU'RE GOING TO A WATER PARK, AND YOU'RE

GOING TO TAKE A STYROFOAM COOLER WITH YOU. THE
COOLER HAS A TOTAL SURFACE AREA OF 1.2 METERS
SQUARED, AND THE WALLS ARE 0.03 METERS THICK. THE
TEMPERATURE INSIDE THE COOLER IS 0 CELSIUS, AND AT THE
HOTTEST PART OF THE DAY IT'S 38 DEGREES CELSIUS.
DURING THIS TIME OF DAY, HOW MUCH HEAT ENERGY PER
SECOND IS LOST BY THE COOLER?
(NOTE: THE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF STYROFOAM IS 0.01.)
 CONDUCTION EXAMPLE

K=0.01 (Thermal Conductivity

of Styrofoam)
A=1.2m (surface area of cooler)
  T1=0° Celsius (temp inside
= cooler)
T2=38° Celsius (temp outside
cooler)
D=0.03m (thickness of wall)

=15.2 Joules per second, or 15.2 watts

CONVECTION
THERMAL ENERGY IS TRANSFERRED FROM HOT
PLACES TO COLD PLACES BY CONVECTION.
CONVECTION OCCURS WHEN WARMER AREAS
OF A LIQUID OR GAS RISE TO COOLER AREAS
IN THE LIQUID OR GAS.
COOLER LIQUID OR GAS THEN TAKES THE
PLACE OF THE WARMER AREAS WHICH HAVE
RISEN HIGHER. THIS RESULTS IN A
CONTINUOUS CIRCULATION PATTERN. 
CONVECTION

What happens to the particles in a

liquid or a gas when you heat them?
The particles spread out and
become less dense.
FLUID MOVEMENT

WARMER LIQUIDS
AND GASES RISE UP 

COOLER LIQUIDS
AND GASES SINK
WATER MOVEMENT

Cools at the Convection

surface current

Cooler Hot water

water sinks rises
COLD AIR SINKS
Freezer
compartment
It is put at the
top, because
cool air sinks,
so it cools the It is warmer
food on the way at the bottom,
down. so this
warmer air
rises and a
convection
current is set
up.
 THIRD METHOD: RADIATION
How does heat energy get
from the Sun to the Earth?
There are no particles
between the Sun and the
Earth so it CANNOT
travel by conduction or
by convection.

?
RADIATION

• RADIATION IS A METHOD OF HEAT

TRANSFER THAT DOES NOT RELY
UPON ANY DIRECT CONTACT
BETWEEN THE HEAT SOURCE AND
THE HEATED OBJECT
• NO MASS IS EXCHANGED AND NO
MEDIUM IS REQUIRED IN THE
PROCESS OF RADIATION.
 THERMODYNAMICS

• IS THE BRANCH OF PHYSICS THAT

DEALS WITH THE RELATIONSHIPS
BETWEEN HEAT AND OTHER
FORMS OF ENERGY. IN
PARTICULAR, IT DESCRIBES HOW
THERMAL ENERGY IS CONVERTED
TO AND FROM OTHER FORMS OF
ENERGY AND HOW IT AFFECTS
MATTER. 
 ZEROTH LAW OF
THERMODYNAMICS
• STATES THAT IF TWO BODIES ARE IN THERMAL
EQUILIBRIUM WITH SOME THIRD BODY, THEN THEY
ARE ALSO IN EQUILIBRIUM WITH EACH OTHER. THIS
ESTABLISHES TEMPERATURE AS A FUNDAMENTAL AND
MEASURABLE PROPERTY OF MATTER.
FIRST LAW OF
THERMODYNAMICS
• STATES THAT THE TOTAL INCREASE IN THE ENERGY OF
A SYSTEM IS EQUAL TO THE INCREASE IN THERMAL
ENERGY PLUS THE WORK DONE ON THE SYSTEM. THIS
STATES THAT HEAT IS A FORM OF ENERGY AND IS
THEREFORE SUBJECT TO THE PRINCIPLE OF
CONSERVATION.
SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
• STATES THAT HEAT ENERGY CANNOT BE TRANSFERRED
FROM A BODY AT A LOWER TEMPERATURE TO A BODY
AT A HIGHER TEMPERATURE WITHOUT THE ADDITION
OF ENERGY. THIS IS WHY IT COSTS MONEY TO RUN AN
AIR CONDITIONER.
THIRD LAW OF
THERMODYNAMICS
• STATES THAT THE ENTROPY OF A PURE CRYSTAL AT
ABSOLUTE ZERO IS ZERO. AS EXPLAINED ABOVE,
ENTROPY IS SOMETIMES CALLED "WASTE ENERGY," I.E.,
ENERGY THAT IS UNABLE TO DO WORK, AND SINCE
THERE IS NO HEAT ENERGY WHATSOEVER AT
ABSOLUTE ZERO, THERE CAN BE NO WASTE ENERGY.
ENTROPY IS ALSO A MEASURE OF THE DISORDER IN A
SYSTEM, AND WHILE A PERFECT CRYSTAL IS BY
DEFINITION PERFECTLY ORDERED, ANY POSITIVE
VALUE OF TEMPERATURE MEANS THERE IS MOTION
WITHIN THE CRYSTAL, WHICH CAUSES DISORDER.