KESHAV MAHAVIDYALAYA
(UNIVERSITY OF DELHI)
Physics Practical
Experiment
Presentation
To determine the coefficient of thermal conductivity of
a bad conductor by
Lee and Charlton’s disc method.
JAY PRAKASH (1073)
UTKARSH KUMAR TIWARI(1044)
Apparatus Required
Lee’s Apparatus
Steam
Generator
Stop Watch
Thermometer
Weighing
From Google Images
About lee’s apparatus:
Lee's disc apparatus consist of a metallic disc resting on a 5 cm deep hollow cylinder (steam chamber ) of
same diameter. It has inlet and outlet tubes for steam. In addition, it has radial holes to insert
thermometers. Thermal conductivity is the property of a material . It indicates the ability of a material to
conduct heat. When steam is passed through the cylindrical vessel a steady state is reached soon. At the
steady state, heat conducted through the bad conductor is equal to heat radiated from the Lees disc.
At the steady state, rate of heat transfer (H) by conduction is given by;
Where,
k - Thermal conductivity of the sample
A - Cross sectional area,
T2 - T1 -Temperature difference across the sample.
x -Thickness of the bad conductor (see figure 1)
The sample is an insulator . It is in the form of a thin disc with large cross sectional area (A = πr 2) compared to the area
exposed at the edge (a = 2πrx) in order to reduce the energy loss. Rate of energy transfer across the sample can be
increased by keeping 'x 'small and 'A 'large. Keeping x small means the apparatus will reach a steady state quickly.
The thin sample of disc is sandwiched between the brass disc and brass base of
the steam chamber (see figure 2). The temperature of the brass disc is measured
by thermometer T1 and the temperature of the brass base is measured by
thermometer T2 . In this way the temperature difference across such a thin disc of
sample can be accurately measured.
Theory Used
● Thermal
Conduction
● Heat radiated per
second
From Google Images
The Lee’s Disc experiment determines an approximate value for the
thermal conductivity k of a poor conductor like glass, cardboard, etc.
The procedure is to place a disc made of the poor conductor, radius r
and thickness x, between a steam chamber and two good conductivity
metal discs (of the same metal) and allow the setup to come to
equilibrium, so that the heat lost by the lower disc to convection is the
same as the heat flow through the poorly conducting disc. The upper
disc temperature T2 and the lower disc temperature T1 are recorded. The
poor conductor is removed and the lower metal disc is allowed to heat up
to the upper disc temperature T2. Finally, the steam chamber and upper
disc are removed and replaced by a disc made of a good insulator. The
metal disc is then allowed to cool through T 1 < T2 and toward room
temperature T0. The temperature of the metal disc is recorded as it cools
so a cooling curve can be plotted. Then the slope s1 =ΔT/Δt of the
cooling curve is measured graphically where the curve passes through
temperature T1.
Applying the Theory to Our Experiment
At steady temperature T1 and T2,
Heat transfer from thermal conduction is equal
to head radiated by lower part to attain equilibrium.
From IISER PUNE PDF
From
IISER PUNE P
DF
Procedure for Observation
Observation of steady temperature T1 Observation for
and T2 dT/dt
1. After 1st part observation, remove the
1. As setup shown in diagram, start
heating the upper part B by steam bad conductor from the heating
generator and wait for steady junction.
temperature. 2. Heat lower part C upto +10
2. When steady temperature reach, Note temperature increase
down the steady temperature of upper 3. Then stop heating and record the
part B and lower part C. temperature while cooling of C
3. Repeat step 2 for enough times with confinuously after fix interval of time
time gap of 1 minute 4. Record the temperature as in step 3
until temperature of C lowers to -10
temperature dec.
5. Draw the graph : T(C) vs t (sec)
From IISER PUNE PDF
Observations
Diameter of the disc (bad conductor), x = …………..
Mass of the disc (bad conductor), m = ……………
Steady Temperature of upper part B : T1 = ………….
Steady Temperature of lower part C : T2 = …………..
Hence, Surface area of disc = A =
Temperature T2 (°C) ...
Time (sec) ...
From IISER PUNE PDF
Observations Graph
Finding the slope
● Draw a tangent and find the
slope of the tangent in graph
● You can also find slope by
drawing secant instead which
uses the application of Mean
value theorem
From IISER PUNE PDF
Result and Conclusions
Specific heat of the material, s = 380 J/kg. °C
Required Coefficient of Thermal Conductivity of the disc
(bad conductor),
From IISER PUNE PDF
Precautions and Sources of Errors
● Don’t record T1 and T2 unless they have remains steady for atleast 10 minutes.
● The tangent to the cooling curve should be done very carefully. An error in dT/dt
will result in a wrong result for K
● The radiation loss only due to the surface of G in contact with C is taken into
account here while there is some loss at the edges. Therefore the diameter of
the specimen disc S should be sufficiently larger than its thickness
● Since room temperature might change during the course of the experiment, it is
advised to complete the experiment quickly.
Log Error : -
From IISER PUNE PDF
Let’s Take the Experiment
Simulation
https://vlab.amrita.edu/?sub=1&brch=194&sim=353&cnt=4
Bibliography and References
● Apparatus Images from Google Images
● Diagram from Amrita Lab
● Content from IISER PUNE PDF
● Experiment Simulation from
Amrita Simulation Lab
● Procedure images : from youtube
Thank you
