HEAT TRANSFER

- Heat is the form of energy which flows from a point of higher temperature to another
point of low temperature
- If a body receives heat energy, its temperature increases whereas the temperature of
the body that gives away the heat decreases.
- If two bodies at the same temperature are in contact, there is no heat flow from one
body to another since the net heat is zero
- The SI Unit of heat is Joule(J)
- It is a derived quantity.
Modes of Heat transfer
- There are three modes of heat transfer
1. Conduction
- Is the transfer of heat within an object without the movement of the object as a whole
Mechanisms of heat conduction
- Vibration of atoms
- Through free electrons
Classification of materials
- Materials can be classified n terms of heat conduction as:
i) Good conductors
ii) Poor conductors.
1. Good conductors
- Good conductors are materials that can allow heat to pass through them
- These materials have free electrons in addition to vibration of atoms making them much
better conductors of heat. EG: Copper, Silver, Alluminium, Brass, Mercury, Iron, Zinc
2. Poor conductors( Insulators)
- These are materials which don’t allow heat to pass through them
- Poor conductors of heat relay solely on collision of atoms as the mode of transfer. EG:
Wood, Air, water, rubber, plastic, glass.
Experiment to determine good conductors and insulators
- Take pieces of wood and iron of equal length and diameter
- Maintain them in contact by a sheet of paper
- A Flame is then passed over the paper several times
- The paper gets blacked on the region covering the wooden rod
- This is because wood is a poor conductor of heat and therefore doesn’t conduct heat
from the paper and therefor the paper burns
- Iron is a good conductor of heat and conducts heat away from the paper.
Factors affecting thermal conductivity
1. Nature of materials
- Nature of materials means what the material is made of
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- It is observed that the wax attached to copper drops first followed by Aluminium, iron,
lead and that of wood didn’t drop since wood is a poor conductor
Precautions
- Rods of same diameter to be used
- Rods of equal length to be used
- Wax of the same size to be used.
2. Thickness/diameter/cross section area of the conductor
Consider the set up alongside
- It is observed that the wax on the thicker iron rod drops first
- This is because more heat flows through a thicker conductor per unit time
- Therefore, conductivity of conductors increases with thickness of the conductor
Precautions
- Equal time of exposure of the rods to heat
- Equal length and type of rods used
- Same size of wax used
- Rods placed at equal distances from the heat source.
3. Temperature difference
- Heat is transferred faster when temperature difference is greater.
Precautions
- The rods of equal diameter
- Rods of equal length used
- Wax of same size used
- Wax placed at equal distance from one end of the rod in each case
- Rods of same material used.
4. Length of the conductor
- Heat travels within a conductor along imaginary lines called lines of heat flow.
- These lines diverge from the hot end
Precautions
- Rods placed at equal distance from heat source
- Rods of same material used
- Wax of the same size used
- Rods of same thickness used.
LAGGING
- Refers to the covering of a good conductor of heat with an insulating material to reduce
heat loss through surface effects
- Heat travel within a conductor along imaginary lines called lines of heat flow
- These lines diverge from the hot end
Lines of flow of heat
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- As can be seen the lines of heat flow passing through cross-sectional area of the metal X
Are more than those passing through the same cross sectional area Y Which is a point
farther away from the hot end
- This indicates that for longer conductor the lower the amount of heat conducted by a
material
- However, this can be solved by lagging which make the lines of flow of heat to move
uniformly within the conductor
Applications of lagging
- Iron pipes carrying steam from boilers or steam wells covered with thick asbestos
material which is an insulator to reduce heat loss from steam.
Applications of Good and poor conductors of heat
1. Cooking utensils and integrated circuits
- Cooking utensils and boilers are made of metals that conduct heat rapidly while their
handles are made of insulators( poor conductors)
- Overheating integrated circuits (ICs) and transistors in electronic devices can drastically
affect their performance. Such components are fixed to a heat sink( a metal plate) to
conduct away undesired heat.
2. Modern buildings and fire fighters
- Modern buildings are made of double walls with an insulator between the walls to
minimize heat loss from the house and therefore maintain stable temperature
- Firefighters put on suits made of asbestos which is a poor conductor of heat to keep
them safe while putting off fire.
3. Birds and wire gauze
- Birds flap their wings after getting wet to introduce air pockets within their feathers this
helps to minimize heat loss from their bodies
- Air, being a poor conductor of heat, reduces heat loss from their bodies. Wool, fur and
thatch on roofs make use of the same concept
- A Soft board ceiling is better than a concrete ceiling because it has many air pockets.
Concrete is better conductor of heat than air
- In experiments involving heating liquids in glass vessel, the glass vessel is placed on a
wire gauze because the gauze is a good conductor of heat it therefore spreads the heat
to a large area of the vessel
Thermal conductivity in Liquids
- Liquids are generally poor conductors of heat
Why liquids are poor conductors of heat
- Pure liquids have molecules further apart from each other
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- Although molecules move about within the liquid bulk, they are slow to pass the heat to
other regions compared to free electrons in metals. This is because there are larger
intermolecular distance between the molecules
- There are also fewer collisions between the molecules
- Electrolytes: Salt solution are better conductors of heat compared to liquids because of
increased compactness of the particles
- Mercury is a metal existing in liquid state at room temperature.
To demonstrate that water is a poor conductor
Experiment 1
- Consider the set up below for demonstrating that water is a poor conductor of heat.
- After sometime it is observed that water at the top of the tube boils while the ice
remained un melted
- Water is a poor conductor of heat. Glass used for making test tube is also a poor
conductor of heat
- The ice is wrapped on the wire gauze to ensure that it doesn’t float
- Water is heated at the top to eliminate possibility of heat transfer to the ice by
convection.
Experiment 2
- Although liquids are poor conductors of heat, some liquids are better conductors than
others
- It is observed that the wax coating on beaker containing mercury melted while that on
beaker containing water didn’t melt
- This is because mercury is a good conductor of heat while water is a poor conductor of
heat.
Thermal conductivity in gases
- Since thermal conductivity is by means of vibration of atoms and presence of free
electrons, gases are worst conductors of heat because of large intermolecular distance
between the atoms
- Gases are poor conductors of heat. The set up below can be used to support this
- It is observed that the match stick held within the unburnt gas region doesn’t get ignited
because gas is a poor conductor of heat.
Convection
- The process by which heat is transferred through fluids
- The heat transfer is by the actual movement of the fluid, called convection current
. There are two types of convection current
- Natural convection- Involves change in density of the fluid with temperature
- Forced convection- Involve mixing of hot and cold parts of the fluid through some
external stirring, like fun or pump.
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To demonstrate convection in liquids experiment 1.

- Potassium permanganate crystal is put at one corner in a beaker containing water and
the beaker heated at that point.
- After sometime, it is observed that a purple coloration rises up from potassium
permanganate forming a circular loop.
- This is due to creation of convection currents in water.
What causes convection
- Density is the mass per unit volume of a substance
- When the volume of the substance increases with the mass remaining constant, its
density decreases
- When the liquid is heated, it expands and this lowers density. The less dense liquid
rises and its place is taken by more dense colder liquid
- This movement is called convection currents.
Convection in gases.
- It Is observed that the smoke is sucked into the box through chimney P And exits
through chimney Q
- When the candle is put off, the smoke isn’t drawn into the box
- This is due to convection currents which are set up when the air in the box is heated
Explanations
- The candle heats up the air above it, which expands and rises up because of its lower
density
- Cold heavier air is drawn in through chimney P, Carrying smoke along which replaces the
air that is escaping through chimney Q.
Applications of convection in fluids
1. Ventilation
- Refers to the supply of fresh air to the room
- Warm air exhaled by the occupants of the room rises and gets out through ventilators
since it is less dense
- Fresh cold air flows into the room through windows and doors
- This way convection current is set up and there is always supply of fresh air.
2. Engine cooling system
- Engine cooling is enhanced by both conduction and convection
- The metal surface conducts heat away from engine. This heats up the water setting up
convection currents which circulates
- The hot water is pumped into the radiator which has thin copper fins that conduct heat
away from the water
- The fins are made of copper because it is the best conductor of heat. They are painted
black because a black surface is a good absorber of heat
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- Fast flowing air past fins speeds up the cooling process.

3. Domestic hot water system
- Hot water rises up because of the lowering of its density when heated
- Cold water moves down from the cold water tank to the boiler because it is relatively
heavier
- The expansion pipe has an outlet for excess water that could have resulted from
overheating.
- The pipe that conveys the hot water and the cylinder are lagged to minimize heat losses
Thermal radiation
- The process by which heat is transferred through vacuum
- Radiation is also described as the flow of heat from one place to another by means of
electromagnetic waves
- In thermal radiation therefore matter isn’t involved in transfer of heat.
Nature of radiant heat
- If u hold a hand lens above a piece of paper such that light from the sun is focused onto
the paper
- The paper catches fire
- Radiant heat, like light can be concentrated to a point using a lens
- Thermal radiation is a wave like light and can therefore be refracted.
- Because of the nature of its production, radiant heat is an electromagnetic wave that
causes a heating effect in objects that absorb it
- Radiation is also described as the flow of hear from one place to another by means of
electromagnetic waves
- It is through this process of radiation that radiant heat reaches the earth’s surface from
the sun
- The higher the temperature of a body the mor the amount of thermal radiation.
Absorption and emission of radiant heat
- A Good absorber of radiant heat is also a good emitter of radiant heat while a poor
absorber of radiant heat is also a poor emitter of heat
Application of thermal radiation
1. Solar heater
- Copper pipe is used because it is a good conductor of heat and will conduct heat into the
water inside the pipe
- It is painted black color Is a good absorber of heat
- The copper pipe is coiled severally to increase surface area for absorption of heat.
- The glass cover allows radiant heat from the sun to pass through and prevents the
weaker energy emitted after
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- The black copper collector absorbs heat energy and conducts it to copper pipes which
transmit it to the water
- The insulating material prevents heat from being lost from the pipe.
2. Solar concentrators
- We can use mirrors instead of flat plate collectors to concentrate the heat from the sin
to a small area at their focus
- Concave or parabolic mirrors is used to reflect heat from the sun into a common
point(focus)
- Temperature at this point is very high therefore the concentrated heat can be used for
purposes like heating water
- If the boiler is placed at the point of focus, very high temperature can be reached
3. Thermos flask/ Vacuum flask/ Dewar flask
- Discovered by Sir James Dewar in 1892
- The stopper rubber pad and rubber ring pad prevent heat loss through conduction since
rubber is a poor conductor of heat
- Silvered wall prevents heat loss through radiation since the shiny surface is a poor
radiator and emitter of heat
- Vacuum prevent heat loss through conduction and convection since the two modes of
heat transfer require material medium for transfer of heat.
- Shock absorber prevents breaking of the glass walls due to pressure from the outside
- Vacuum seal prevents air from reoccupying the vacuum. It is through the vacuum seal
that air was sucked out.
4. Greenhouse effect ( Heat Trap)
- Greenhouse effect is a phenomenon in which heat is allowed to pass through a
transparent material but does not penetrate to the outside
- This way heat accumulates in the green house continuously
- Green houses are used to provide appropriate conditions in plants especially in cold
areas.