1.9.

 Synopsis 17

We know from experience that a hot object brought into contact with a cold object
becomes cooler, whereas the cold object becomes warmer. A reasonable view is that some-
thing is transferred from the hot object to the cold one, and we call that something heat Q.11
Thus we say that heat always flows from a higher temperature to a lower one. This leads to the
concept of temperature as the driving force for the transfer of energy as heat. When no tem-
perature difference exists, no spontaneous heat transfer occurs, a condition of thermal equilib-
rium. In the thermodynamic sense, heat is never regarded as being stored within a body. Like
work, it exists only as energy in transit from one body to another; in thermodynamics, from
system to surroundings. When energy in the form of heat is added to a system, it is stored not
as heat but as kinetic and potential energy of the atoms and molecules making up the system.
A kitchen refrigerator running on electrical energy must transfer this energy to the
surroundings as heat. This may seem counterintuitive, as the interior of the refrigerator is
maintained at temperatures below that of the surroundings, resulting in heat transfer into the
refrigerator. But hidden from view (usually) is a heat exchanger that transfers heat to the sur-
roundings in an amount equal to the sum of the electrical energy supplied to the refrigerator
and the heat transfer into the refrigerator. Thus the net result is heating of the kitchen. A room
air conditioner, operating in the same way, extracts heat from the room, but the heat exchanger
is external, exhausting heat to the outside air, thus cooling the room.
In spite of the transient nature of heat, it is often viewed in relation to its effect on the
system from which or to which it is transferred. Until about 1930 the definitions of units of
heat were based on temperature changes of a unit mass of water. Thus the calorie was defined
as that quantity of heat which, when transferred to one gram of water, raised its temperature
one degree Celsius.12 With heat now understood to be a form of energy, its SI unit is the joule.
The SI unit of power is the watt, symbol W, defined as an energy rate of one joule per second.
The tables of Appendix A provide relevant conversion factors.

1.9 SYNOPSIS

After studying this chapter, including the end-of-chapter problems, one should be able to:

∙ Describe qualitatively the scope and structure of thermodynamics

∙ Solve problems involving the pressure exerted by a column of fluid
∙ Solve problems involving conservation of mechanical energy
∙ Use SI units and convert from U.S. Customary to SI units
∙ Apply the concept of work as the transfer of energy accompanying the action of a force
through a distance, and by extension to the action of pressure (force per area) acting
through a volume (distance times area)

11An equally reasonable view would regard something called cool as being transferred from the cold object to the

hot one.
12A unit reflecting the caloric theory of heat, but not in use with the SI system. The calorie used by nutritionists to

measure the energy content of food is 1000 times larger.