Heat

and
Thermodynamics
A.Umarmukthar M.Sc., B.Ed.,

Heat and thermodynamics by Umarmukthar is licensed under a Creative Commons

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://thermodynamics.physicsnotes.in.

Newtons Law of cooling :

Newtons law of cooling states that the rate of loss of heat of a body is

directly proportional to the difference of temperature of the body and the

surroundings . The law holds good only for small difference of temperature. Also,
the loss of heat by radiation depends upon the nature of the surface of the body and
the area of the exposed surface.

dH
dH
= (0)
or
= k (0 )
dt
dt
Consider a body of mass m0 , specific heat C and at temperature . Let 0 be

the temperature of the surroundings. Suppose, the temperature falls by a small

amount d in time dt . Then the amount of heat lost
Rate of loss of heat

dH =mCd

(i)

dH
d
= mC
dt
dt

(ii)

From Newtons law of cooling

dH
= k ( 0 )
dt
Where k is a constant depending upon the area and the nature of the surface of

the body.

From ( 1 ) and ( 2 )

mC

d
= k ( 0)
dt

or

Integrating,

d
k
=
dt =K . dt
0
mC

(iii)

log ( 0 ) = Kt + C

(iv)

If a graph is plotted between t along the X axis and log ( 0) along the Y-

axis, it is a straight line. Hot water is taken in a calorimeter and is placed in a double

walled vessel. Temperature of water after regular intervals is noted. A graph

between log

( 0) and time t is plotted and it is a straight line. It verifies

Newtons law of cooling

Experimental verification of Newton s law of cooling

Let us consider a spherical calorimeter of mass m whose outer surface is

blackened. It is filled with hot distilled water of mass m 1. The calorimeter with a
thermometer is suspended from a stand as shown in the following figure

The calorimeter and the hot water radiate heat energy to the surroundings.

Using a stop clock, the temperature is noted for every 30 seconds interval of time till
the temperature falls by about 200C. The readings are entered in a tabular column.

If the temperature of the calorimeter and the water falls from T 1 to T2 in t seconds,

the quantity of heat lost by radiation Q = (ms + m 1s 1) (T 1-T 2), where s is the specific
heat capacity of the material of the calorimeter and s 1 is the specific heat capacity of
water.

Rate of cooling = Heat energy lost

time taken

Q (ms + m 1 s 1)(T 1T 2)
=
t
t

If the room temperature is T0, the average excess temperature of the calorimeter over
that of the surroundings is

T 1 +T 2
T 0
2

T +T
According to the newtons Law of cooling, Q 1 2 T 0
t