Environmental

Physics
Lecture # 03
Methods of transfer of heat
 Heat Transfer can
occur in Four ways
1.Conduction
2.Convection
3.Radiation
4.Evaporation
 CONDUCTION
Heat is transferred from one
particle of matter to another in an
object.
 Conduction = CONTACT
 Conduction
Conduction is the
transfer of heat
by direct contact
(particles collide)
Conduction
occurs most
easily in solids
and liquids
 Conduction
Why is conduction easier in solids and liquids?

Atoms and molecules are closer together in solids and

liquids. So, the particles need to move only a short
distance before they bump into one another and transfer
energy.
Explain the movement of
thermal energy in the
picture below.
How is this an
example of
Conduction?
Faster moving molecules in your warm
hand bump against the slower moving
molecules in the ice to transfer thermal
energy. Direct contact of the particles
occurs; therefore, heat is transferred by
Conduction.
 Conductors and Insulators

Substances that transfer

thermal energy very well are
called Conductors.
Substances that do not
transfer thermal energy very
well are called Insulators.
Conductors and Insulators
 CONDUCTION
 Thermal conduction is the process by which energy
can be transferred between two points in a material
at different temperatures.
 J. Fourier had discovered that the rate of flow of
thermal energy, dQ/dt, through a material depends
on the cross-sectional area, A, the length or
thickness of the material, L, and the difference in
temperature between the two sides, ΔT = T1 – T2.
This can be expressed as
dQ/dt = - kA·ΔT/L,
 CONDUCTION
 where k is the thermal conductivity of a material.
 The effectiveness of a material as an insulator can be
determined by measuring its thermal conductivity.
 Good thermal conductors like copper have a high thermal
conductivity, e.g. 380 Wm-1K-1, while poor conductors
like water have a low thermal conductivity, i.e. 0.59 Wm-
1K-1.
 The minus sign in the above equation is significant. It
shows that the flow of energy is from the region at the
higher temperature to that at the lower temperature.
 Fourier’s law of thermal
conduction
 A rambler is walking up a steep hillside in January. He is wearing
clothing 1 cm thick,his skin temperature is 34C and the exterior surface
is close to freezing at 00C.Determine the rate of flow of energy
outwards from his body, through thermal conduction, when:
 • it is fine dry. Assume that the thermal conductivity for clothing, under
dry conditions, is 0.042 Wm-1K-1.
 • It has been raining heavily and the rambler is soaked. The thermal
conductivity is now 0.64 Wm-1K-1. Assume that the walker has surface
area of 1.84 m2.
Fourier’s law of thermal
conduction
 Solution:
• Apply the Fourier’s law of thermal conduction.
dQ/dt = - kA·dT/L = -0.042·1.84·34/0.01 W = - 263
W.
• Applying the Fourier’s law again, dQ/dt = -
4004W.
 CONVECTION

 Convection is the mechanism of heat transfer in

materials through mass flow of the material.
 In order to conduct heat, parts of
the material itself moves — i.e. there is a
transfer of mass within the material.
 Typically, convection occurs in fluids. However,
effects of convection can be seen sometimes in
solids, as in the case of plate tectonics.
 CONVECTION
 Convection is the movement that
transfers heat within fluids
 Fluids = anything that flows
 Heat is transferred by currents within
the fluid or gas
 Convection
 Convection is the
flow of currents
in a liquid or gas
 A current is created
when the warmer
(less dense) material
rises forcing the
cooler (more dense)
material to sink.
 Convection
Convection is the
movement of matter due
to differences in density
that are caused by
temperature
Important in weather,
plate tectonics.
Examples of Convection:
Have you ever noticed that
the air on the second floor
of your house is warmer
than the first floor? Or that
water in a pool is cooler at
the deep end?
Examples of Convection

These
currents also cause the
movement of magma within the earth.
 Convection
 Convection is a complex process and there is no
simple equation that fully describes it.
 However, we can make use of an approximation
for cases where a fluid is heated using a solid
surface.
 For these cases the heat transfer rate is given
by,
 Convection

 Where A is the surface area that heat is

transferred through,
 Ts is the temperature of solid, Ta is the
temperature of air,
 h is convective heat transfer.
 This coefficient depends on a number of
properties including density, Flow rate of the fluid
and viscocity.
Convection

 Convection occurs when thermal energy is transferred by the

motion of a fluid.
 The fluid can be either a liquid or a gas.
 There are two types of convection: (i) natural (when fluids move
without forcing).
 and (ii) forced (when the fluid is forced, such as blowing over a
hot cup of tea).
 Of particular importance for the human environment is forced
convection and the Newton’s law of cooling provides a physical
model of it.
Newton’s law of cooling

 A number of factors will influence the rate of

convection from an object in a fluid, including the
temperature of the object, the shape, the size, the
temperature of the fluid and the type of flow
relative to the object.
 Newton determined that the rate at which energy
is lost from a body dQ/dt is directly proportional to
the difference between the body’s temperature, T,
and environmental temperature, T0, i.e.
dQ/dt = - kA·ΔT.
 Newton’s law of cooling
 This equation represents Newton’s law of cooling, where k is a
proportionality constant whose magnitude depends upon the
nature and surface area of the body, and is called convective
energy transfer coefficient.
 this law applies to objects cooling in a draughter, such as
blowing over a cup of tea.
 However, walking against a strong wind or in a wind tunnel is a
reasonably good approximation of this law.
 Newton’s law of cooling
 Example: Fluid flow and convection.

 A student volunteers to take part in the following simulations of convective

energy loss:
• he is placed in a wind tunnel in which air, at -20C, blows through at 40 km/h.
• He is placed in a flow of water, which is at 120C. The velocity of flow is 0.5
m/s.
In each case calculate: (i) the convective energy transfer coefficient, and (ii)
theconvective energy transfer flux, dQ/dt. Assume A = 1.8 m2 and the
skin temperature is 310C. Assume convective energy transfer coefficient k
= 44.8 Wm-2K-1 for 40 km/h speed of flow, and k = 34.4 Wm-2K-1 for 0.5
m/s.
Solution:
Applying Newton’s law for cooling, we have:
• dQ/dt = 2661 W.
• dQ/dt = 1176 W.