Thermal energy is transferred from a place that is hotter (that is, at a higher

temperature) to one that is colder (at a lower temperature). In this chapter, we

will look at the different ways in which thermal energy is transferred between
places that have different temperatures.
 Heat transfer

Conduction Convection Radiation

Thermal conduction

Thermal conduction is the transfer of thermal (heat) energy through a Solid substance
by the vibration of the atoms within the substance. The substance itself does not move.
Thermal conduction

Thermal conduction is the transfer of thermal (heat) energy through a Solid substance
by the vibration of the atoms within the substance. The substance itself does not move.

Metal bar

According to kinetic
theory, all materials are
made up of tiny, moving
particles. In a solid
these particles tend to
vibrate around a fixed
spot.
Thermal conduction

Metal bar

According to kinetic
theory, all materials are
made up of tiny, moving
particles. In a solid
these particles tend to
vibrate around a fixed
spot.

Heat
Thermal conduction

Metal bar

As the bar is heated,

the particles tend to
vibrate more.

Heat
Thermal conduction

Metal bar

As the bar is heated,

the particles tend to
vibrate more.
Thermal energy is
transferred from the
hot end to the cold end
as the particles pass on
their increased kinetic
energy to other
Heat particles along the bar.
 Thermal conduction
Thermal energy transfer is increased if:
1. Temperature difference Metal bar
across ends of bar is increased.

Thermal energy transferred by conduction

As the bar is heated,

the particles tend to
vibrate more.
2. Cross- 3. The length
of the bar is
Thermal energy is
sectional area
of the bar is reduced. transferred from the
increased. hot end to the cold end
as the particles pass on
their increased kinetic
energy to other
Heat particles along the bar.
Thermal conduction
Conductors and insulators

Metals are the best

thermal conductors
because they have free
electrons, which can
carry energy quickly.
They feel cold to the
touch as heat is quickly
conducted away from
your hand.
Thermal conduction
Conductors and insulators

Metals are the best

thermal conductors
because they have free
electrons, which can
carry energy quickly.
They feel cold to the
touch as heat is quickly
conducted away from
your hand.

Non-metals tend to
be poor conductors.
A polystyrene tile
feels warm to the
touch because it
stops your hand
from losing thermal
energy.
 Copper and Steel rods should be the same diameter

 The drawing pins are attached to the copper rod and steel rod with petroleum
jelly and placed at the same distances from the heat source for this to be a
fair test.
 heat is transferred along the metal rods from the heated ends towards the cooler
ends away from the heat source.
 Copper conducts heat better than steel because the drawing pins attached to
the copper rod drop off sooner than those attached to the steel rod.
Thermal convection

Convection is the transfer of heat through fluids {liquids and gases}

by the upward movement of warmer, less dense regions of fluid.

When water is heated, water

expands and becomes less dense
than the colder surrounding water, so
it floats up to the top of the glass
beaker. Colder water sinks to take its
place, and is then heated too
This is called a convection current

Demonstration of convection currents, using a

potassium manganate (VII) crystal in water
Thermal convection

Convection in air
When air is heated it expands and its density becomes less. When air is surrounded
by cold denser air, it rises. This is the same principle as in water.

Convector heaters (Figure 15.6) heat air, which then floats out of the top of the
heater to the top of the room. Cold air is drawn in at the bottom and this in turn is
heated. In this way, heat energy is eventually transferred to all parts of the room.
Thermal convection

on-shore and off-shore breezes(sea

breezes and land breezes)

cool warm
Fluids are insulators . . . ?

Woollen clothing keeps you warm because air gets

trapped in the fibres. The trapped air is heated by your
body and forms a warm insulating layer that helps to stop
you losing heat. In the same way, a wetsuit keeps a diver
warm because a thin layer of water is trapped next to the
diver's skin.
Fluids are insulators . . . ?
Comparing conductors

As the top of the

tube is heated, the
water boils and turns Boiling water
into steam.
The ice trapped at
the bottom of the
tube does not melt.

Ice
Fluids are insulators . . . ?
Comparing conductors

As the top of the

tube is heated, the
water boils and turns Boiling water
into steam.
The ice trapped at
the bottom of the
tube does not melt.

This experiment
shows that water is a
poor conductor of
thermal energy
(heat).

Ice
Thermal radiation

Thermal radiation is the transfer of energy by infrared (IR) waves.

heat is travelling in the form of waves, like visible light. Heat waves are called
infrared (IR) waves or IR radiation.

Infrared waves have longer wavelengths than light waves. It is the infrared
radiation that makes you feel warm when you lie down in the sunshine.
Thermal radiation

- All objects, including your body, emit infrared (IR) radiation. The hotter an
object is, the more energy it will emit as infrared.
- Electric fires also transfer heat energy by infrared.
- Special cameras designed to detect infrared waves can be used to create
images even when there is no visible light.
 Good and bad absorbers
Infrared radiation behaves in the same way as light. It can be reflected and
focused using a mirror.

Highly polished, shiny surfaces are good reflectors of thermal radiation. White
surfaces also reflect a lot of IR.

Matt (not shiny) black and dark surfaces are poor reflectors or, to put it
more positively, are good absorbers of heat radiation.

Shiny teapot will keep your tea warmer than a black teapot
 Put two identical (same type)
thermometers on either side of a filament
bulb that has been painted matt black on
one side and shiny white on the other.

 It is important that the thermometers are

fixed at the same height and distance
from the filament bulb.

 When you tum on the bulb you will notice that the temperature starts to rise more
quickly on the thermometer facing the black side than on the other
Good and bad absorbers

If a surface is a good reflector of IR then it is a poor radiator of IR.

ENERGY-EFFICIENT House
Using less energy to provide the same amount of useful output
from a service
Heating is the main use of energy in our homes
Since most domestic heating systems work by burning fuels like coal, oil and
gas - it is the main producer of carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and contributes to global warming.
It is, therefore, very important that houses are energy efficient.
ENERGY-EFFICIENT House
The key to energy-efficient housing is
insulation. Houses must be designed to
reduce the rate at which energy is transferred
between the inside and the outside.
ENERGY-EFFICIENT House
Heat loss by conduction through the walls can be reduced by
using building materials that are good insulators

The two layers of brick are separated by an excellent thermal

insulator in the form of an air cavity or gap.
 INSULATING PEOPLE AND ANIMALS
The obvious method of cutting down heat loss from the
body is to wear clothes.

Clothes that trap air around the body

provide insulation because trapped air
cannot circulate and is a very poor
conductor.

A large proportion of body heat is lost from the head, so hats are the
human equivalent of loft insulation.
 INSULATING PEOPLE AND ANIMALS
Animals keep warm in different ways. You may have noticed birds fluffing up their
feathers on cold days in winter. This increases the thickness of the trapped air layer
around their bodies, so reducing heat loss by conduction.

Some birds, like penguins, will move close together for warmth
Other animals will curl into small balls. This cuts down heat loss by making the
surface area of their bodies exposed to the cold as small as possible.
(1) Explain the following observations, referring to the appropriate process of heat
transfer in each case.
(a) Two cups of tea are poured at the same time. They are left for ten minutes.
One of the cups has a metal teaspoon left in it. The tea in this cup is cooler
than the tea in the other cup at the end of the ten-minute period.
(b) Two fresh cups of tea are poured. (The others had gone cold!) A thin plastic
lid is placed on top of one of the cups. The tea in this cup keeps hot for
longer.

Some of the heat energy in the tea is transferred to the spoon. Also, the
metal spoon is a good conductor of heat, so it increases the area from
which the heat of the tea can be lost (so the heat is transferred along
the spoon until its end )

The plastic lid traps a layer of air above the tea. Air is a poor conductor
of heat. The trapped layer of air also greatly reduces heat loss from the
surface of the hot tea by preventing convection currents in the air above
the cup. (It also reduces the amount of heat lost through evaporation.)
(2) (a) Kettles heated on stoves used to be made of copper. Was this a good
choice?
(b) Copper kettles were usually kept highly polished (shiny). If it is not
polished, copper turns matt and eventually blackens as it reacts with
oxygen in the air. Apart from making the kettle look nice, what is a good
physics reason for keeping a copper kettle polished?

Copper is a very good conductor of heat. This allows the water in the
kettle to heat up quickly, as the energy from the stove is easily
transferred through the copper to the water within the kettle.
But this might be considered to be a disadvantage also, as the heat
transfer from the water inside the kettle to the outer surface of the kettle
is also rapid.

Highly polished, shiny surfaces are good reflectors of thermal radiation. A shiny
surface reduces heat loss by thermal radiation.
If it is not polished, the kettles absorbs thermal radiation and a kettle allowed to go
black would radiate more heat from its surface than a shiny, clean one
Polished copper kettle will keep hot water warmer than a black kettle
Although paper is a poor thermal conductor, it is thin, so heat can
transfer through it quite rapidly. This heat energy is then rapidly
conducted away from the paper by the brass section, because brass is a
very good thermal conductor. Wood is a poor thermal conductor, so
heat is transferred from the paper much more slowly, so the
temperature of the paper rises enough for the paper covering it to start
to scorch.
(4) There are two bench seats in a park, one made of metal, the other made of wood.
The metal seat feels much colder to sit on than the wooden one. A student says
that it is because the metal seat is at a lower temperature than the wooden one.
Explain why this explanation is incorrect, and give a correct explanation of why the
metal seat seems colder than the wooden one.

Both benches will be at the same temperature as their surroundings. Thus the
metal bench is not actually colder than the wooden one.

Since metals are good conductors, the metal bench conducts heat much
more readily than the wooden bench. Heat from the body is quickly
conducted away from the body to the metal bench, and so the metal seat
feel much colder.
Since wood is poor conductor, as heat travels much more slowly through the
wood, the region under the person sitting on the wooden bench does warm
up.

As its temperature gets close to the person's body temperature, the rate at
which heat is transferred from the body into the bench is reduced and the
bench does not feel as cold.
(5) (a) Why is the heating element (part) in an electric kettle positioned very
close to the bottom of the kettle?
(b) Where would you expect the cooling element to be placed in a freezer?
Give a reason for your answer.

Water is a relatively poor thermal conductor. The main heat transfer is

convection. In convection, water is heated, which expands and becomes
less dense, floats up and therefore colder water, denser water sink to
take its place
If the heating element was positioned near the top of the water in the
kettle, only the top layer of water would be heated, because the
colder denser water would be below the element and would not be
directly heated by contact with the heating element

At the top. Air cooled by the element will become more dense and will
sink down the freezer. If the cooling element was placed at the bottom,
only the bottom layer of air would become cold.
 (6) One model of a well-known brand of computer does not use a fan to
keep the electronic circuits inside it cool, unlike other PCs. A student
noticed that the ventilation (air) slots on most other PCs are
positioned on the side, but the slots are on the top and bottom
surfaces of this computer. The designer has applied physics to the
problem of keeping the computer cool. Explain why the new
computer does not need a fan.
Warm air, less dense
The slots at the top allow air that has been heated by the
computer circuitry and thus become less dense to be
pushed upwards by colder, denser air drawn in through
the slots in the base of the computer case. This
convection current means that there is a steady stream of
cooler air drawn across the electronic circuitry, helping to
keep it cool.
Convection does not take place so effectively if the
ventilation slots are in the sides of the case at the same
level, so fans are necessary to maintain a sufficient
circulation of cool air across the circuitry.

Cool air, more dense

The fire heats the air in the right-hand shaft in the diagram. This air
expands and becomes less dense, and is therefore pushed upwards by
colder, denser air drawn down the other shafts in the mine. This ensures
there is a steady circulation of fresh {colder, denser) air drawn down the
shaft on the left of the diagram.
a (b) Measure temperatures on each thermometer
before and after switch on the bulb.
Half glued
shiny metallic (c) Put two identical (same type)
sheet thermometers on either side of a filament
bulb. They are fixed at the same height and
distance from the filament bulb

(d) When we tum on the bulb we will notice

that the temperature starts to rise more
quickly on the thermometer facing the matt
black side than on the other. therefore
The percent of thermal energy lost through the walls = 25%
Total amount of thermal energy lost each day = 1.2 x 107 J
thermal energy lost through walls in one week = 1.2 x 107 J x 25% x 7

2.1 x 107
To reduce the amount of thermal energy lost through the windows, draw curtains
/close windows

 Fiberglass wool is good insulator and its

trapped air, cannot move around and so
convection cannot be formed.
 The trapped air also forms a insulating layer to
reduce the thermal energy conduction .
 ……………………..
Chemical 75 % of Useful
energy thermal energy
input

25% of waste thermal

energy
Efficiency = useful energy output x 100 %
total energy input
Metal is good conductor of heat and it can conduct heat energy quickly
Black one is best at radiating thermal energy because they are good
thermal emitters
1. The radiator is placed at the bottom of the room
2. The air near radiator gain the thermal energy
and become less dense and it rises upward .
3. The colder air come to take its place, and is then
heated too. By this way, thermal convection heats
a room.
1

Black part of the bar reaches the highest temperature.

Because black one is a better/good absorber of IR/infrared /thermal

radiation from the sun.
 The temperature of the air increase / the air near the bar
become warm.

 The warm air expand .

 The density of warm air decrease/ become less .

 The warm air rise up.

 The cold air sink and replace the warm air.