Planet Physics

By
Sachin Uchil
9821638368

ONLINE PHYSICS TUITIONS

For
IGCSE & ICSE
GRADES 8 TO 10
PLANET PHYSICS (Online Physics Tuitions for IGCSE & ICSE Grades 8 to 10) By Sachin A Uchil – 9821638368

Transfer of Heat:
Heat transfer is defined as the process in which the molecules are moved from the region of higher
temperature to lower temperature.

Modes of Heat Transfer:

Heat can travel from one place to another in several ways. The different modes of heat transfer
include:
• Conduction
• Convection
• Radiation

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 can take place in solids, liquids, and gases.
The thermal energy is transferred from more energetic particles to adjacent, less energetic, ones.
Typically, conduction is most effective via solids, as the molecules are most closely packed.

Conduction in different metals:

✓ Fix the drawing pin to the end of the metal strip
using spots of Vaseline.
✓ Position the other end of the metal strip into a
Bunsen flame.
✓ Record the time taken for the wax to melt and
the drawing pin to drop off.
✓ The fastest time shows the best conductor of
heat.

PLANET PHYSICS (Online Physics Tuitions for IGCSE & ICSE Grades 8 to 10) By Sachin A Uchil – 9821638368
PLANET PHYSICS (Online Physics Tuitions for IGCSE & ICSE Grades 8 to 10) By Sachin A Uchil – 9821638368

Good Conductors of Heat

✓ These are helpful when heat needs to be quickly transferred. Most metals are
good conductors of heat. Here are some examples:
✓ Silver – you can find spoons made of silver. If use a spoon to eat some hot soup, heat will be
transferred to the spoon from the soup and it will become very hot.
✓ Aluminium – some saucepans are made of aluminium, allowing the food in the saucepan to
get heated quickly.
✓ Iron – when we iron a shirt on an ironing board, heat from the shirt is conducted to the shirt
to remove any creases.
Insulators of Heat
✓ Insulators are often used when we want to reduce unwanted heat loss. Here are some
examples of insulators:
✓ Air – air is a very bad conductor of heat. This explains why we find it in between the two
panes of glass in double-glazed windows, as less heat will be lost.
✓ Wood – we often see the handles of saucepans made of wood. This means less heat will be
transferred from the metal pan to the handle, so we don’t burn our hands when we hold the
handle.
✓ Plastic – found on the handle of an electric kettle. So when you boil water to make a cup of
tea, the plastic acts as an insulator so you won’t burn yourself when pouring the water into
your mug.
✓ Wool – insulators like wool can trap air to reduce heat loss, for example in fleece winter
jackets.
Water is a bad conductor:
1) Take a hard glass test tube and drop a piece of
ice wrapped up in copper wire gauze.
2) Fill 3/4th of the test tube with ice-cold water and
clamp it in an iron stand.
3) Heat the test tube near its mouth with the help
of a burner.
4) After a few moments, we can observe that water
near the top starts boiling and steam is given off freely.
5) The ice placed at the bottom does not melt because the heat supplied to the water is unable
to melt the ice.
6) This shows that water is a bad conductor of heat.

PLANET PHYSICS (Online Physics Tuitions for IGCSE & ICSE Grades 8 to 10) By Sachin A Uchil – 9821638368
PLANET PHYSICS (Online Physics Tuitions for IGCSE & ICSE Grades 8 to 10) By Sachin A Uchil – 9821638368

Conduction in metals and non-metals:

✓ Conduction in insulators (non-metals) is only caused by passing vibrations from atom to atom.
✓ Conduction in good conductors (metals) is caused by collisions between fast moving free
electrons and metal ions and by passing vibrations from atom to atom.
✓ Conduction by collisions between fast moving free electrons is very much faster than
conduction by passing vibrations from atom to atom.
✓ Metals are good conductors because they contain free electrons.

Convection of Heat:
Convective heat transfer refers to the movement of
thermal energy within fluids.
The action of heat transmission through movement of
major number of molecules inside fluids such as gases
and liquids is known as convection.
It only takes place only in gases and liquids and gases as
the movement of particles takes place.
Due to the movement of particles, transferring their heat
energy to nearby particles.
Hence heat transfer by convection is possible in fluid only

What are Convection Currents?

✓ Convection currents are the transfer of heat within a fluid or gas caused by differences in
temperature and density, creating a circular flow.
✓ The difference in densities of the fluid occurring due to temperature gradients gives rise to the
convection currents.
✓ Convection results in heat transfer by the difference in temperature between the two parts of
the liquid.
✓ Due to this, hot fluids tend to rise, and the cold fluids tend to sink, resulting in a current
within the fluid called the convection current.

PLANET PHYSICS (Online Physics Tuitions for IGCSE & ICSE Grades 8 to 10) By Sachin A Uchil – 9821638368
PLANET PHYSICS (Online Physics Tuitions for IGCSE & ICSE Grades 8 to 10) By Sachin A Uchil – 9821638368

RADIATION:
Thermal radiation is the transfer of heat energy through electromagnetic waves, which can travel
through a vacuum and do not require a material medium to transfer the energy.
Properties of infrared radiations:
✓ All objects give off thermal radiation
✓ The hotter an object is, the more thermal radiation it emits
✓ Thermal radiation is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum called infrared
✓ Thermal radiation is the only way in which heat can travel through a vacuum
✓ It is the way in which heat reaches us from the Sun through the vacuum of space
✓ The colour of an object affects how good it is at emitting and absorbing thermal radiation
Effects of Different Surfaces
✓ The amount of thermal radiation emitted by an object depends on a number of factors:
✓ The surface colour of the object (black = more radiation)
✓ The texture of the surface (shiny surfaces = more radiation)
✓ The surface area of the object (greater surface area = more area for radiation to be emitted
from)
Good absorbers and good emitters:
✓ Black objects are very good at absorbing thermal radiation, for example black clothes make
you feel hotter in sunny weather
✓ Black objects are also very good at emitting thermal radiation, which is the reason that
chargers for laptops, and radiators in cars are coloured black - it helps them to cool down
✓ Shiny objects reflect thermal radiation and so absorb very little
✓ They also emit very little, though, and so take longer to cool down
Thermal Equilibrium
✓ As an object absorbs thermal radiation it will become hotter
✓ As it gets hotter it will also emit more thermal radiation
✓ The temperature of a body increases when the body absorbs radiation faster than it emits
radiation
✓ Eventually, an object will reach a point of constant temperature where it
is absorbing radiation at the same rate as it is emitting radiation
✓ At this point, the object will be in thermal equilibrium

PLANET PHYSICS (Online Physics Tuitions for IGCSE & ICSE Grades 8 to 10) By Sachin A Uchil – 9821638368
PLANET PHYSICS (Online Physics Tuitions for IGCSE & ICSE Grades 8 to 10) By Sachin A Uchil – 9821638368

Uses of Infrared technology:

✓ Medical uses: Infrared radiation finds application as a heating source. There are infrared
saunas used to treat high blood pressure and rheumatoid arthritis. Infrared radiation is
considered to be one of the safest methods of physiotherapy.
✓ Manufacturing industries: Industries which concentrate on manufacturing processes such as
forming of plastics, curing of coatings, plastic welding, etc., use infrared heaters in place of
contact heating and convection ovens.
✓ Massage Therapy
✓ Infrared rays are used for warming the skin and for relaxing the muscles. Infrared rays are
preferred because of their penetration quality through the skin.

Consequences of thermal energy transfer:

1) Uses of conductors
Good conductors
These are used whenever heat is required to travel quickly through something.
Saucepans, boilers and radiators are made of metals such as aluminium, iron and copper which are all
good conductors that transfer thermal energy quickly.
Bad conductors (insulators)
✓ The handles of some saucepans are made of wood or plastic.
✓ Cork is used for table mats. These are insulating materials that transfer thermal energy only
very slowly.
✓ Air is one of the worst conductors and so one of the best insulators. This is why houses with
cavity walls (two layers of bricks separated by an air space) and double-glazed windows keep
warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

The thermos flask

A vacuum or Thermos flask keeps hot liquids hot or cold liquids cold.
Transfer of thermal energy by conduction and convection is minimised
by making the flask a double-walled glass vessel with a vacuum between
the walls.
Radiation is reduced by silvering both walls on the vacuum side.

PLANET PHYSICS (Online Physics Tuitions for IGCSE & ICSE Grades 8 to 10) By Sachin A Uchil – 9821638368
PLANET PHYSICS (Online Physics Tuitions for IGCSE & ICSE Grades 8 to 10) By Sachin A Uchil – 9821638368

Thermal energy transfer – climate and weather:

✓ Wind is an example of a convection current. Sunlight or reflected light radiates heat, setting
up a temperature difference that causes the air to move. Shady or moist areas are cooler, or
able to absorb heat, adding to the effect. Convection currents are part of what drives global
circulation of the Earth's atmosphere.
✓ Magma in the Earth's mantle moves in convection currents. The hot core heats the material
above it, causing it to rise toward the crust, where it cools. The heat comes from the intense
pressure on the rock, combined with the energy released from natural radioactive decay of
elements. The magma can't continue to rise, so it moves horizontally and sinks back down.

Thermal energy transfer – Ocean Currents:

Water plays a central role in the climate system. Its density varies depending on salinity and
temperature. Cold, salty water is heavy and sinks to great depths. This causes the circulation of
millions of cubic metres of water in the ocean. This powerful phenomenon, which primarily occurs in
a few polar regions of the ocean, is called convection.
The effects of ocean currents on climate are,
• The warm and cold ocean currents affect the climate of the adjoining land.
• They have an impact on the climate of the surrounding land.
• Warm currents raise the temperature of the areas adjacent to them, while colder currents
lower the temperature of the adjacent area.

PLANET PHYSICS (Online Physics Tuitions for IGCSE & ICSE Grades 8 to 10) By Sachin A Uchil – 9821638368