Gillette Zenner 11/01/2012

The Physics of Heating/Cooling:

Introduction:
Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the molecules of a sample of matter. If you looked into the sample at a very small scale, you would observe the molecules vibrating (solid), shifting past each other (liquid), or whizzing around in what is mostly empty space (gases). The individual molecules have different velocities, but it is the average velocity that is taken into account when assessing the average kinetic energy. The expression for kinetic energy as a function of velocity (and mass) is:

Temperature Scales:
Both the Fahrenheit and Celsius are calibrated using the freezing and the boiling point of water. The Celsius scale divides the space between these points into 100 degrees and assigns the freezing point to 0 C and the boiling point to 100 C. Fahrenheit uses 180 divisions and 28 F and 212 F, respectively. The Kelvin and Rankine scales are absolute scales, meaning that they are calibrated at zero representing an average velocity of zero within the molecules of the sample. This can never be reached in the real world, but it works as a good model for calculating ratios of temperatures (you can imagine trouble when finding a ratio of a temperature compared to 0 F division by zero)

Heat Transfer:
Thermodynamics tells us that heat, on its own, will always flow from hotter to colder temperatures. Stated more specifically, heat energy will always flow down a temperature gradient. Another critical concept from thermodynamics is the law of conservation of energy. This means that for every unit of heat energy lost from a hot body, an equivalent amount of energy is received by the environment. The energy conservation concept can be applied to a problem like this: Ice at -20 C enters water at 40 C. The mass of the ice and water are 5 kg each. What is the equilibrium temperature reached in the system after a long period of time? It starts with this mathematical expression; ( ) ( ) Link for more info:

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/thermalP/u18l1d.cfm