Heat can be transferred

by conduction, by
convection, and by
 The spontaneous
transfer of heat is
always from warmer
objects to cooler
objects. If several
objects near one
another have
different
temperatures, then
those that are warm
become cooler and
Conduction
In conduction,
collisions between
particles transfer
thermal energy,
without any overall
transfer of matter.
Conduction
• If you hold one end of an iron rod in a flame,
the rod will become too hot to hold. Heat
transfers through the metal by conduction.
• Conduction of heat is the transfer of energy
within materials and between different
materials that are in direct contact.
• Materials that conduct heat well are known as
heat conductors.
Conduction Heat from the flame
causes atoms and
free electrons in the
end of the metal to
move faster and jostle
against others. The
energy of vibrating
atoms increases
along the length of the
rod.
Conduction
Conduction is explained by collisions between
atoms or molecules, and the actions of loosely
bound electrons.
• When the end of an iron rod is held in a flame,
the atoms at the heated end vibrate more
rapidly.
• These atoms vibrate against neighboring atoms.
• Free electrons that can drift through the metal
jostle and transfer energy by colliding with
atoms and other electrons.
Conduction
Conductors
• Materials composed of atoms with
“loose” outer electrons are good
conductors of heat (and electricity
also).
• Because metals have the “loosest”
outer electrons, they are the best
conductors of heat and electricity.
Conduction
Touch a piece of metal and a piece of wood in your immediate
vicinity. Which one feels colder? Which is really colder?
• If the materials are in the same vicinity, they should have
the same temperature, room temperature.
• The metal feels colder because it is a better conductor.
• Heat easily moves out of your warmer hand into the cooler
metal.
• Wood, on the other hand, is a poor conductor.
• Little heat moves out of your hand into the wood, so your
hand does not sense that it is touching something cooler.
Conduction
The tile floor feels
cold to the bare
feet, while the
carpet at the same
temperature feels
warm. This is
because tile is a
better conductor
than carpet.
Conduction
Insulators
Liquids and gases generally make poor
conductors.
An insulator is any material that is a poor
conductor of heat and that delays the transfer of
heat.
• Air is a very good insulator.
• Porous materials having many small air spaces
are good insulators.
Conduction
• The good insulating properties of materials such as
wool, wood, straw, paper, cork, polystyrene, fur,
and feathers are largely due to the air spaces they
contain.
• Birds fluff their feathers to create air spaces for
insulation.
• Snowflakes imprison a lot of air in their crystals and
are good insulators. Snow is not a source of heat; it
simply prevents any heat from escaping too rapidly.
Conduction
A “warm” blanket does not provide you with
heat; it simply slows the transfer of your
body heat to the surroundings.
Conduction
• Strictly speaking, there is no “cold” that
passes through a conductor or an
insulator.
• Only heat is transferred. We don’t insulate
a home to keep the cold out; we insulate to
keep the heat in.
• No insulator can totally prevent heat from
getting through it. Insulation slows down
heat transfer.
Conduction
Snow lasts longest on the roof of a well-insulated
house. The houses with more snow on the roof are
better insulated.
Conduction
think!
If you hold one end of a
metal bar against a piece of
ice, the end in your hand
will soon become cold. Does
cold flow from the ice to
your hand?
Conduction
think!
If you hold one end of a metal bar against a piece of ice, the end in your hand will
soon become cold. Does cold flow from the ice to your hand?

Answer:
Cold does not flow from the ice to
your hand. Heat flows from your
hand to the ice. The metal is cold
to your touch because you are
transferring heat to the metal.
Conduction
think!
You can place your hand into
a hot pizza oven for several
seconds without harm,
whereas you’d never touch
the metal inside surfaces for
even a second. Why?
Conduction
think!
You can place your hand into a hot pizza oven for several seconds
without harm, whereas you’d never touch the metal inside surfaces
for even a second. Why?

Answer:
Air is a poor conductor, so the rate of
heat flow from the hot air to your
relatively cool hand is low. But touching
the metal parts is a different story. Metal
conducts heat very well, and a lot of heat
in a short time is conducted into your
Conduction

How does
conduction
transfer heat?
Convection
In convection,
heat is transferred
by movement of
the hotter
substance from
one place to
Convection
Another means of heat transfer is by movement
of the hotter substance.
• Air in contact with a hot stove rises and
warms the region above.
• Water heated in a boiler in the basement
rises to warm the radiators in the upper
floors.
This is convection, a means of heat transfer by
movement of the heated substance itself, such
as by currents in a fluid.
Convection
• Convection occurs in all fluids, liquid or
gas.
• When the fluid is heated, it expands,
becomes less dense, and rises.
• Cooler fluid then moves to the bottom,
and the process continues.
• In this way, convection currents keep a
fluid stirred up as it heats.
Convection
Convection occurs
in all fluids.
a. Convection
currents transfer
heat in air.
Convection
Convection occurs in all
fluids.
a.Convection currents
transfer heat in air.
b.Convection currents
transfer heat in liquid.
Convection
• With a bit of steel wool, trap a piece of
ice at the bottom of a test tube nearly
filled with water.
• Place the top of the tube in the flame of
a Bunsen burner.
• The water at the top will come to a
vigorous boil while the ice below
remains unmelted.
Convection
When the test tube is
heated at the top,
convection is
prevented, and heat
can reach the ice by
conduction only. Since
water is a poor
conductor, the top
water will boil without
melting the ice.
Convection
Moving Air
Convection currents stirring the
atmosphere produce winds.
• Some parts of Earth’s surface
absorb heat from the sun
more readily than others.
• The uneven absorption
causes uneven heating of the
air near the surface and
creates convection currents.
Convection
Convection currents are produced by uneven heating.
a. During the day, the land is warmer than the air, and
a sea breeze results.
Convection
Convection currents are produced by uneven heating.
a. During the day, the land is warmer than the air, and a sea breeze results.
b. At night, the land is cooler than the water, so the air flows in the other
direction.
Convection
Cooling Air
• Rising warm air, like a rising balloon,
expands because less atmospheric
pressure squeezes on it at higher
altitudes.
• As the air expands, it cools—just the
opposite of what happens when air is
compressed.
Convection
Think of molecules of air as tiny balls
bouncing against one another.
• Speed is picked up by a ball when it is
hit by another that approaches with a
greater speed.
• When a ball collides with one that is
receding, its rebound speed is reduced.
Convection
When a molecule collides with a molecule that is
receding, its rebound speed after the collision is less
than before the collision.
Convection
Molecules in a
region of expanding
air collide more often
with receding
molecules than with
approaching ones.
Convection
think!
You can hold your
fingers beside the
candle flame
without harm, but
not above the
flame. Why?
Convection
think!
You can hold your fingers beside the
candle flame without harm, but not above
the flame. Why?

Answer:
Heat travels up by
convection. Air is a
poor conductor, so
very little heat
Convection
How does
convection
transfer heat?
Radiation
In radiation, heat is
transmitted in the
form of radiant
energy, or
electromagnetic
waves.
Radiation
• How does the sun warm Earth’s surface?
• It can’t be through conduction or
convection, because there is nothing
between Earth and the sun.
• The sun’s heat is transmitted by another
process.
• Radiation is energy transmitted by
electromagnetic waves. Radiation from the
sun is primarily light.
Radiation
Radiant energy is any energy that is transmitted by
radiation.
From the longest wavelength to the shortest, this
includes:
• radio waves,
• microwaves,
• infrared radiation,
• visible light,
• ultraviolet radiation,
• X-rays,
• and gamma rays.
Radiation
a. Radio waves send signals through the air.
Radiation
a. Radio waves send signals through the air.
b. You feel infrared waves as heat.
Radiation
a. Radio waves send signals through the air.
b. You feel infrared waves as heat.
c. A visible form of radiant energy is light waves.
Radiation
Most of the heat from a fireplace goes up the chimney
by convection. The heat that warms us comes to us by
radiation.
Radiation

How does
radiation
transmit heat?
Emission of Radiant
Energy
All substances
continuously emit
radiant energy in a
mixture of
wavelengths.
Emission of Radiant
• Objects at low temperatures emit long
Energy
waves. Higher-temperature objects emit
waves of shorter wavelengths.
• Objects around you emit radiation mostly in
the long-wavelength end of the infrared
region, between radio and light waves.
• Shorter-wavelength infrared waves are
absorbed by our skin, producing the
sensation of heat.
• Heat radiation is infrared radiation.
Emission of Radiant
Shorter wavelengths are produced when the rope is shaken more
Energy
rapidly.
Emission of Radiant
Energy
• The fact that all objects in our
environment continuously emit infrared
radiation underlies infrared
thermometers.
• Simply point the thermometer at
something whose temperature you
want, press a button, and a digital
temperature reading appears.
Emission of Radiant
Energy
An infrared
thermometer
measures the
infrared radiant
energy emitted by a
body and converts
it to temperature.
Emission of Radiant
Energy
• The radiation emitted by the object provides the
reading.
• The average frequency of radiant energy is directly
proportional to the Kelvin temperature T of the
emitter:

• Typical classroom infrared thermometers operate in

the range of about -30°C to 200°C.
Emission of Radiant
Energy
People, with a surface temperature of 310 K, emit light
in the low-frequency infrared part of the spectrum.
Very hot objects emit radiant energy in the range of
visible light.
• At 500°C an object emits red light, longest waves
we can see.
• Higher temperatures produce a yellowish light.
• At about 1500°C all the waves to which the eye is
sensitive are emitted and we see an object as
“white hot.”
Emission of Radiant
• A blue-hot star is hotter than a white-hot star,
Energy
and a red-hot star is less hot.
• Since the color blue has nearly twice the
frequency of red, a blue-hot star has nearly
twice the surface temperature of a red-hot
star.
• The radiant energy emitted by the stars is
called stellar radiation.
Emission of Radiant
Energy
• The surface of the sun has a high
temperature (5500°C).
• It emits radiant energy at a high frequency—
much of it in the visible portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum.
• The surface of Earth, by comparison, is cool
and the radiant energy it emits consists of
frequencies lower than those of visible light.
Emission of Radiant
• Radiant energy emitted by Earth is called
Energy
terrestrial radiation.
• Much of Earth’s energy is fueled by
radioactive decay in its interior. The source
of the sun’s radiant energy involves
thermonuclear fusion in its deep interior.
• Both the sun and Earth glow—the sun at
high visible frequencies and Earth at low
infrared frequencies.
Emission of Radiant
Energy
think!
Why is it that light
radiated by the sun is
yellowish, but light
radiated by Earth is
infrared?
Emission of Radiant
think!
Energy
Why is it that light radiated by the sun is yellowish, but light
radiated by Earth is infrared?

Answer:
The sun has a higher
temperature than Earth.
Earth radiates in the infrared
because its temperature is
relatively low compared to
Emission of Radiant
Energy
What substances
emit radiant
energy?
Absorption of Radiant
Energy
Good emitters of
radiant energy
are also good
absorbers; poor
emitters are poor
absorbers.
Absorption of Radiant
Energy
• If everything is emitting energy,
why doesn’t everything finally
run out of it?
• Everything also absorbs
energy from its environment.
Absorption of Radiant
Absorption and Emission
Energy
• A book sitting on your desk is both
absorbing and radiating energy at the
same rate.
• It is in thermal equilibrium with its
environment.
• Now move the book out into the bright
sunshine.
Absorption of Radiant
Because the sun shines on it, the book absorbs
Energy
more energy than it radiates.
• Its temperature increases.
• As the book gets hotter, it radiates more
energy.
• Eventually it reaches a new thermal
equilibrium, and it radiates as much energy as
it receives.
• In the sunshine the book remains at this new
higher temperature.
Absorption of Radiant
Energy
If you move the book back indoors, the
opposite process occurs.
• The hot book initially radiates more
energy than it receives from its
surroundings.
• It cools and radiates less energy.
• At a sufficiently lowered temperature it
radiates no more energy than it
receives from the room.
• It has reached thermal equilibrium
again.
Absorption of Radiant
Energy
• A blacktop pavement and dark automobile
body may remain hotter than their
surroundings on a hot day.
• At these dark objects cool faster! Sooner
or later, all objects in thermal contact come
to thermal equilibrium.
• So, a dark object that absorbs radiant
energy well emits radiation equally well.
Absorption of Radiant
Absorption and Reflection
Energy
Absorption and reflection are opposite
processes.
• A good absorber of radiant energy reflects
very little radiant energy, including the
range of radiant energy we call light.
• A good absorber therefore appears dark.
• A perfect absorber reflects no radiant
energy and appears perfectly black.
Absorption of Radiant
Energy
• Look at the open ends of pipes in a stack. The
holes appear black.
• Look at open doorways or windows of distant
houses in the daytime, and they, too, look black.
• Openings appear black because the radiant
energy that enters is reflected from the inside
walls many times.
• It is partly absorbed at each reflection until very
little or none remains to come back out.
Absorption of Radiant
Energy
Even though the interior of the box
painted white, the hole looks black.
has been
 Absorption of Radiant
•Energy
Radiant energy
that enters an
opening has
little chance of
leaving before
it is completely
absorbed.
Absorption of Radiant
• Good
Energy reflectors, on the other hand,
are poor absorbers.
• Light-colored objects reflect more
light and heat than dark-colored
ones.
• In summer, light-colored clothing
keeps people cooler.
Absorption of Radiant
Energy
Anything
mirrorlike
with a

surface reflects
most of the
radiant energy it
encounters, so it
is a poor
absorber of
radiant energy.
Absorption of Radiant
Energy
• On a sunny day Earth’s surface is a net
absorber.
• At night it is a net emitter.
• On a cloudless night its “surroundings” are
the frigid depths of space and cooling is
faster than on a cloudy night.
• Record-breaking cold nights occur when
the skies are clear.
Absorption of Radiant
Energy
• When you’re in the direct light of the
sun, step in and out of the shade.
• You’ll note the difference in the radiant
energy you receive.
• Then think about the enormous amount
of energy the sun emits to reach you
some 150,000,000 kilometers distant.
Absorption of Radiant
think!
Energy
If a good absorber of
radiant energy were a
poor emitter, how would
its temperature compare
with its surroundings?
Absorption of Radiant
Energy
think!
If a good absorber of radiant energy were a poor emitter, how would its temperature compare with its
surroundings?

Answer:
If a good absorber were not also a good
emitter, there would be a net absorption of
radiant energy, and the temperature of a
good absorber would remain higher than the
temperature of the surroundings. Things
around us approach a common temperature
only because good absorbers are, by their
Absorption of Radiant
Energy How does an
object’s emission
rate compare with
its absorption
rate?
Newton’s Law of
Cooling
The colder an
object’s
surroundings, the
faster the object
will cool.
Newton’s Law of
Cooling
• An object hotter than its surroundings
eventually cools to match the surrounding
temperature.
• Its rate of cooling is how many degrees its
temperature changes per unit of time.
• The rate of cooling of an object depends
on how much hotter the object is than the
surroundings.
Newton’s Law of
• This principle is known as
Cooling
Newton’s law of cooling.
• Newton’s law of cooling states
that the rate of cooling of an
object is approximately
proportional to the temperature
difference (∆T) between the
object and its surroundings:
• rate of cooling ~ ∆T
• It applies to conduction,
convection, or radiation.
Newton’s Law of
Cooling
• Newton’s law of cooling also
holds for heating.
• If an object is cooler than its
surroundings, its rate of warming
up is also proportional to ∆T.
Newton’s Law of
think!
Cooling
Since a hot cup of tea loses
heat more rapidly than a
lukewarm cup of tea, would it
be correct to say that a hot cup
of tea will cool to room
temperature before a lukewarm
cup of tea will? Explain.
Newton’s Law of
think!

Cooling
Since a hot cup of tea loses heat more rapidly than a lukewarm cup of tea, would it be
correct to say that a hot cup of tea will cool to room temperature before a lukewarm
cup of tea will? Explain.

Answer:
No! Although the rate of cooling is
greater for the hotter cup, it has
farther to cool to reach thermal
equilibrium. The extra time is equal
to the time the hotter cup takes to
cool to the initial temperature of
Newton’s Law of
Cooling
What causes an
object to cool
faster?
Global Warming and the
Greenhouse Effect
The near unanimous
view of climate
scientists is that human
activity is a main driver
of global warming and
climate change.
Global Warming and
the Greenhouse
• An automobile sitting in the bright sun on a
Effect
hot day with its windows rolled up can get
very hot inside.
• This is an example of the greenhouse effect.
• The greenhouse effect is the warming of a
planet’s surface due to the trapping of
radiation by the planet’s atmosphere.
Global Warming and the
Greenhouse Effect
Causes of the Greenhouse
Effect
• All things radiate, and the frequency and
wavelength of radiation depends on the
temperature of the object emitting the radiation.
• The transparency of things such as air and glass
depends on the wavelength of radiation.
• Air is transparent to both infrared (long) waves
and visible (short) waves.
Global Warming and the
Greenhouse Effect
• If the air contains excess carbon
dioxide and water vapor, it absorbs
infrared waves.
• Glass is transparent to visible light
waves but absorbs infrared waves.
Global Warming and
the Greenhouse Effect
• Why does a car get so hot in bright sunlight?
• The wavelengths of waves the sun radiates are very
short.
• These short waves easily pass through both Earth’s
atmosphere and the glass windows of the car.
• Energy from the sun gets into the car interior, where,
except for some reflection, it is absorbed. The
interior of the car warms up.
Global Warming and
the Greenhouse Effect
• The car interior radiates its own waves, but
since it is not as hot as the sun, the radiated
waves are longer.
• The reradiated long waves encounter glass
windows that aren’t transparent to them.
• Most of the reradiated energy remains in the
car, which makes the car’s interior even
warmer.
Global Warming and
the Greenhouse
The same effect occurs in Earth’s atmosphere, which is
Effect
transparent to solar radiation.
• Earth’s surface absorbs this energy and reradiates part of
this at longer wavelengths.
• Atmospheric gases (mainly water vapor, carbon dioxide,
and methane) absorb and re-emit long-wavelength
terrestrial radiation back to Earth.
• So, the long-wavelength radiation that cannot escape
Earth’s atmosphere warms Earth.
Global Warming and
the Greenhouse
• Without this warming process, Earth would be a
Effect
frigid -18°C.
• However, increased levels of carbon dioxide
and other atmospheric gases in the atmosphere
may further increase the temperature.
• This would produce a new thermal balance
unfavorable to the biosphere.
Global Warming and the
Greenhouse Effect
Earth’s temperature
depends on the energy
balance between
incoming solar radiation
and outgoing terrestrial
radiation.
Global Warming and the
Greenhouse Effect
Earth’s atmosphere
acts as a one-way
valve. It allows
visible light from the
sun in, but because
of its water vapor
and carbon dioxide
content, it prevents
terrestrial radiation
from leaving.
Global Warming and
the Greenhouse Effect
Consequences of the Greenhouse
Effect
• Averaged over a few years, the solar radiation that
strikes Earth exactly balances the terrestrial radiation
Earth emits into space.
• This balance results in the average temperature of
Earth—a temperature that presently supports life as we
know it.
• Over a period of decades, Earth’s average temperature
can be changed—by natural causes and also by human
activity.
Global Warming and the
Greenhouse Effect
Shorter-wavelength
radiant energy from
the sun enters. The
soil emits long-
wavelength radiant
energy. Income
exceeds outgo, so the
interior is warmed.
Global Warming and the
Greenhouse Effect
• Materials such as those from the burning
of fossil fuels change the absorption and
reflection of solar radiation.
• Except where the source of energy is
solar, wind, or water, increased energy
consumption on Earth adds heat.
• These activities can change the radiative
balance and change Earth’s average
temperature.
Global Warming and
the Greenhouse Effect
• Although water vapor is the main greenhouse
gas, CO2 is the gas most rapidly increasing in
the atmosphere.
• Concern doesn’t stop there, for further warming
by CO2 can produce more water vapor as well.
• The greater concern is the combination of
growing amounts of both these greenhouse
gases.
Global Warming and the
Greenhouse Effect
How does human
activity affect
climate change?