Lesson 2

MEng 131
HEAT TRANSFER
Lesson No. 2
MODES OF HEAT TRANSFER
Lesson 2.1 Conduction
CONDUCTION
▪ The transfer of energy from the more energetic particles of a substance to the adjacent
less energetic ones as a result of interactio9ns between the particles.
▪ Heat trasnfer through a solid medium via direct contact.
How are particles arranged in a solid? A liquid? And a gas?
• In gases and liquids, conduction is due to the collisions and diffusion of the molecules
during their random motion.
• In solids, it is due to the combination of vibrations of the molecules in a lattice and the
energy transport by free electrons.
Have you ever touched a metal spoon sitting in a

pan of boiling water only to be surprised by how
hot it is?
A piece of cheese melts as heat is

transferred from the meat to the
cheese.
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Instructor: ENGR. AUREA ANNE J. ELE
When you heat a metal strip at one end, the heat travels to the other end.
As you heat the metal, the particles vibrate, these vibrations make the adjacent particles
vibrate. And so on and so on, the vibrations are passed along the metal and so is the heat, that is
what we call conduction.
Why are metals good thermal conductors?
(These are delocalized electrons or free electrons)
Note that the particles in metals are fixed but can vibrate, but their electrons can move freely.
When heated, these free electrons gain kinetic energy and move from the hotter areas to the
colder areas, carrying energy with them. Substances that allow thermal energy to move easily
through them are called conductors. Metals are good conductors of thermal energy. Substances
that do not allow thermal energy to move through them easily are called insulators. Air, wood and
plastics are insulators.
Why does metal feel colder than wood, if they are both at the same temperature?
➢ Metal is a conductor; wood is an insulator.

➢ Metal conducts the heat away from your hands. Wood does not conduct the heat
away from your hands, so the wood feels warmer than the metal.
Lesson 2.2 Convection
CONVECTION
▪ It is the mode of energy transfer between a solid surface and the adjacent liquid or gas
that is in motion, and it involves the combined effects of conduction and fluid motion.
▪ The faster the fluid, the greater the convection heat transfer.
▪ It is the process by which heat is transferred through fluids (liquids and gases).
What happens to the particles

in a liquid or gas when you
heat them?
*The particles spread out and become less dense.
▪ When a liquid is heated, it expands and this lowers its density.

▪ The less dense liquid rises and its place is taken by more dense colder liquid. This
movement of liquid forms convection currents.
▪ Molecules in fluids are further apart and have negligible cohesive force.
Convection currents are set up much faster in gases than in liquids because of the extremely
low cohesive forces existing between the molecules of the gases.
➢ Cooler, more dense, fluids sink through warmer,
less dense fluids.
➢ In effect, warmer liquids and gases rise up.
➢ Cooler liquids and gases sink.
Why is it windy at the seaside?
*The cold air from the sea moves in to take the place of warm air that has risen.
SEA BREEZE AND LAND BREEZE

SEA BREEZE (Day Time)
1. Cool air moves from Sea to Land.
2. Warm air from land rises up.
3. Warm air takes place of cool air at high
atmosphere.
4. Cool air is pushed down towards the sea.
LAND BREEZE (Night Time)

1. Cool air moves from Land to Sea.
2. Warm air from sea rises up.
3. Warm air takes place of cool air at high
atmosphere.
4. Cool air is pushed down towards the land.
Where is the freezer compartment put in a fridge?
▪ It is put at the top, because cool air sinks, so it

cools the food on the way down.
Freezer Compartment
▪ It is warmer at the bottom, so the warmer air

rises and a convection current is set up.
Lesson 2.3 Radiation
RADIATION
▪ It is when heat is transferred through electromagnetic waves.
▪ It is a transfer of thermal energy in the form of electromagnetic waves emitted by atomic
and subatomic agitation at the surface of a body.
▪ It can transfer through empty space, while the other two methods require some form of
matter-on-matter contact for the transfer.
▪ Heat transfer through vacuum is called thermal radiation.
▪ All bodies absorb and emit radiation.
Image source: https://eschooltoday.com/learn/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/radiation.jpg
How does heat energy get from the sun to the earth?
➢ There are no particles between the sun and the earth, so it cannot travel by
conduction or by convection.
➢ Only through radiation.
RADIATION MAY COME FROM OTHER SOURCES.
Have you ever sat too close to a campfire?

You’re enjoying the warmth only to notice
that your skin is really warm?
▪ Like all electromagnetic waves (light, X-rays, microwave), thermal radiation travels at the
speed of light, passing most easily through a vacuum or a nearly “transparent” gas such
as oxygen or nitrogen.
▪ Liquids, “participating” gases such as carbon dioxide and water vapor, and glasses
transmit only a portion of incident radiation.
▪ Most other solids are essentially opaque to radiation.
THERMAL EQUILIBRIUM
▪ In order for two substance to affect each other, they must be in thermal contact with each
other.
o If you leave your oven open while turned on and stand several feet in front of it,
you are in thermal contact with the oven and can feel the heat it transfers to you
(convection through air)
o Normally, you do not feel the heat from the oven when you are several feet away
and that I because the oven has thermal insulation to keep the heat inside of it, thus
preventing thermal contact with the outside of the oven. This is of course not
perfect, so if you stand nearby, you do feel some heat from the oven.
▪ Thermal equilibrium is when two items that are in thermal contact no longer transfer heat
between them.
Lesson 2.4 Effect of Heat Transfer
➢ The basic effect of heat transfer is that the particles of one substance collide with the
particles of another substance. The more energetic substance will typically lose internal
energy (i.e., "cool down") while the less energetic substance will gain internal energy (i.e.
"heat up").
➢ The most blatant effect of this in our day-to-day life is a phase transition, where a
substance changes from one state of matter to another, such as ice melting from a solid
to a liquid as it absorbs heat. The water contains more internal energy (i.e., the water
molecules are moving around faster) than in the ice.
➢ In addition, many substances go through either thermal expansion or thermal
contraction as they gain and lose internal energy. Water (and other liquids) often expands
as it freezes, which anyone who has put a drink with a cap in the freezer for too long has
discovered.

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MEng 131

Lesson 2.1 Conduction

How are particles arranged in a solid? A liquid? And a gas?

Have you ever touched a metal spoon sitting in a

A piece of cheese melts as heat is

Why are metals good thermal conductors?

(These are delocalized electrons or free electrons)

➢ Metal is a conductor; wood is an insulator.

Lesson 2.2 Convection

What happens to the particles

*The particles spread out and become less dense.

▪ When a liquid is heated, it expands and this lowers its density.

Why is it windy at the seaside?

SEA BREEZE AND LAND BREEZE

LAND BREEZE (Night Time)

▪ It is put at the top, because cool air sinks, so it

▪ It is warmer at the bottom, so the warmer air

Lesson 2.3 Radiation

Image source: https://eschooltoday.com/learn/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/radiation.jpg

Have you ever sat too close to a campfire?

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