Thermal Conduction in Solids

●​ Conduction is the main method of thermal energy transfer in solids

●​ Conduction occurs when:​
Two solids of different temperatures come in contact with one another, thermal
energy is transferred from the hotter object to the cooler object
●​ Metals are the best thermal conductors
○​ This is because they have a high number of free electrons

Thermal Conduction in a Metal

Conduction: the atoms in a solid vibrate and bump into each other

●​ Conduction can occur through two mechanisms:

○​ Atomic vibrations
○​ Free electron collisions
●​ When a substance is heated, the atoms, or ions, start to move around (vibrate)
more
○​ The atoms at the hotter end of the solid will vibrate more than the atoms at
the cooler end
○​ As they do so they bump into each other, transferring energy from atom to
atom
○​ These collisions transfer internal energy until thermal equilibrium is
achieved throughout the substance
○​ This occurs in all solids, metals and non-metals alike
Convection
●​ Convection is the main way that heat travels through liquids and gases
○​ Convection only occurs in fluids
○​ Convection cannot happen in solids

Density & Convection

●​ Descriptions of convection currents always need to refer to changes in
temperature causing changes in density
○​ The temperature may fall or rise, both can create a convection current
●​ When a liquid (or gas) is heated (for example by a radiator near the floor):
○​ The molecules push each other apart, making the liquid/gas expand
○​ This makes the hot liquid/gas less dense than the surroundings
○​ The hot liquid/gas rises, and the cooler (surrounding) liquid/gas moves in
to take its place
○​ Eventually the hot liquid/gas cools, contracts and sinks back down again
○​ The resulting motion is called a convection current

Convection Currents

When a liquid or gas is heated, it becomes less dense and rises

 ●​ When a liquid (or gas) is cooled (for example by an A.C. unit high up on a wall):
○​ The molecules move together, making the liquid/gas contract
○​ This makes the hot liquid/gas more dense than the surroundings
○​ The cold liquid/gas falls, so that warmer liquid or gas can move into the
space created
○​ The warmer liquid or gas gets cooled and also contracts and falls down
○​ The resulting motion is called a convection current

Demonstrating Convection Currents

●​ A simple demonstration of convection in liquids involves taking a beaker of water
and placing a few crystals of potassium permanganate in it, to one side, as
shown in the diagram above
●​ When the water is heated at that side, the potassium permanganate will dissolve
in the heated water and rise along with the warmed water, revealing the
convection current

Demonstrating Convection

Diagram showing an experiment with potassium permanganate to demonstrate

convection
Examiner Tips and Tricks
If a question on heat mentions liquids or gases the answer will probably be about
convection.

Heat does not rise - it is the hot gases or liquids which rise due to the change in density
when they were heated.

Thermal Radiation
●​ All objects give off thermal radiation
○​ The hotter an object is, the more thermal radiation it emits
○​ Thermal radiation is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum called
infrared
●​ Thermal radiation is the only way in which heat can travel through a vacuum
○​ It is the way in which heat reaches us from the Sun through the vacuum of
space
●​ The colour of an object affects how good it is at emitting and absorbing thermal
radiation:

Thermal Equilibrium
●​ As an object absorbs thermal radiation it will become hotter
●​ As it gets hotter it will also emit more thermal radiation
○​ The temperature of a body increases when the body absorbs radiation
faster than it emits radiation
●​ Eventually, an object will reach a point of constant temperature where it is
absorbing radiation at the same rate as it is emitting radiation
○​ At this point, the object will be in thermal equilibrium

Radiation in Equilibrium
An object will remain at a constant temperature if it absorbs heat at the same rate as it
loses heat

●​ If the rate at which an object receives energy is less than the rate at which it
transfers energy away then the object will cool down
●​ If the rate at which an object transfers energy away is less than the rate at which
it receives energy then the object will heat up
●​ The process will always move towards thermal equilibrium
Effects of Different Surfaces
●​ The amount of thermal radiation emitted by an object depends on a number of
factors:
○​ The surface colour of the object (black = more radiation)
○​ The texture of the surface (shiny surfaces = more radiation)
○​ The surface area of the object (greater surface area = more area for
radiation to be emitted from)

Absorbing and Emitting Powers of Different Coloured Objects

Colour Absorbing Emitting
 Black Good absorber Good emitter

Dull / dark Reasonable absorber Reasonable emitter

White Poor absorber Poor emitter

Shiny Very poor absorber (reflects radiation) Very poor emitter

●​ ​
Black objects are very good at absorbing thermal radiation, for example black
clothes make you feel hotter in sunny weather
○​ Black objects are also very good at emitting thermal radiation, which is the
reason that chargers for laptops, and radiators in cars are coloured black -
it helps them to cool down
●​ Shiny objects reflect thermal radiation and so absorb very little
○​ They also emit very little, though, and so take longer to cool down

Simple Consequences of Energy Transfer

Conduction
●​ The main means of thermal energy transfer in solids
●​ When heated, atoms vibrate more, knocking into each other and
transferring energy from atom to atom as a result

Conduction in Solids
 Energy from the kinetic store of a vibrating particle is transferred to the kinetic
store of a neighbouring particle. In this way, energy is transferred throughout the
solid.

●​ Metals are especially good at conducting heat as the delocalised electrons

can collide with the atoms, helping to transfer the vibrations through the
material and hence transfer heat better

Delocalised Electrons in a Metal

Delocalised electrons in metals speed up thermal conduction

 ●​ If a question mentions metals, the answer will probably have something to
do with conduction
●​ Trapped air is a very good insulator. Air is a gas and so is a poor
conductor. Trapping air prevents it from circulating and forming a
convection current

Hot Coffee Heating a Hand by Conduction

Thermal energy is transferred from the hot coffee to the mug and to the cold
hands

●​ Other common examples of conduction are:

○​ Heating a pan on a hob
○​ Heating water in a kettle
○​ A lizard warming its belly on a hot rock
Convection
●​ The means of thermal energy transfer in liquids and gases
○​ Convection cannot occur in solids because the in solids the particles
are not free to move
●​ When a fluid (a liquid or a gas) is heated:
○​ The molecules push each other apart, making the fluid expand
○​ This makes the hot fluid less dense than the surroundings
○​ The hot fluid rises, and the cooler (surrounding) fluid moves in to
take its place
○​ Eventually, the hot fluid cools, contracts and sinks back down again
○​ The resulting motion is called a convection current

Convection Current

A convection current caused by heating from the fire

●​ Heat sources placed at the bottom of things will generally create

convection currents. Likewise, cooling units placed high up will cool any
rising air, causing it to sink again
Coffee Heats Air through Convection

Thermal energy is transferred from the hot coffee to the air by convection
currents rising from the surface

●​ Other common examples of convection are:

○​ A radiator heating a room
○​ Air conditioning cooling a room
○​ Ice cubes cooling a drink
○​ A hot air balloon

Examiner Tips and Tricks

If a question is about a metal, then make sure you talk about conduction. If a
question refers to a liquid or gas (that isn't trapped) then make sure you talk
about convection.
Thermal Radiation
●​ The only means of thermal energy transfer that does not require a medium
●​ The temperature of a body can be regulated by balancing how much
incoming radiation is absorbed and emitted (or reflected)
●​ If an object starts to absorb radiation at a higher rate than it radiates it,
then the object will heat up
○​ Likewise, if it loses radiation at a greater rate than it absorbs it, then
the object will cool down
●​ This is how an emergency blanket works, to keep a trauma victim warm:
 ○​ Rescue teams use light-coloured, shiny emergency blankets to keep
accident survivors warm
○​ A light, shiny outer surface emits a lot less radiation than a dark,
matt (non-glossy) surface
○​ This keeps the patient warm, as less infrared radiation is emitted
than if an ordinary blanket had been used

Reflective Blanket Being Used to Keep a Patient Warm

The reflective surface of an emergency blanket reflects the infrared radiation

emitted by the body back towards the patient, helping to keep them warm

●​ Other common examples of thermal radiation are:

○​ Heating from sunlight
○​ Using an infrared thermometer to measure temperature
○​ Using a thermal imaging camera
○​ Using night vision
Complex Consequences of Energy Transfer
●​ In real situations there is very rarely only one form of energy transfer
○​ Usually all three happen at once

Thermal Energy Transfers in a Hot Drink

●​ In the diagram below a more complex - and more 'real' - version of the
coffee cup is shown
●​ Thermal energy is transferred from hotter areas (the tea) to cooler areas
(the cup, hands and air) by the processes of:
○​ Conduction; by direct contact between the tea and the solid sides of
the cup and also by direct contact from the cup to the surface it is
sitting on
○​ Convection; from the surface of the coffee to the air directly above it
○​ Radiation; from the sides of the hot cup in all directions to the
surrounding air

Thermal Energy Transfers Occurring in a Hot Drink

Energy is transferred by conduction, convection and radiation from a hot mug of
coffee

●​ Objects will always lose heat until they are in thermal equilibrium (same
temperature) with their surroundings
○​ For example, a mug of hot tea will cool down until it reaches room
temperature
○​ Eventually the room, tea and cup will all be at the same temperature

Insulation in the Home

●​ Insulating the loft of a house lowers its rate of cooling, meaning less
energy is lost to the outside
●​ The insulation is often made from fibreglass (or glass fibre)
○​ This is a reinforced plastic material composed of woven material
with glass fibres laid across and held together
○​ The air trapped between the fibres makes it a good insulator
○​ Trapped pockets of air ensure that convection currents cannot be
formed, therefore reducing energy transfer by convection
●​ It has a much lower thermal conductivity than the roof material
●​ Several layers of insulation make it very thick and therefore decrease the
rate of cooling

Cavity Wall Insulation

 Less heat is lost from a building with the help of insulation (filled cavity in walls)
Examiner Tips and Tricks
A common mistake made by candidates when explaining how an insulator keeps
something warm is to state something along the lines of “The object warms up
the insulator which then warms the object up”.

Avoid giving this kind of answer!

The real explanation is:

●​ The insulator contains trapped air, which is a poor conductor of heat

●​ Trapping the air also prevents it from transferring heat by convection
●​ This reduces the rate of heat loss from the object, meaning that it will stay
warmer for longer

Other things to watch out for:

●​ Heat does not rise (only hot gases or liquids rise)

●​ Shiny things do not reflect heat (they reflect thermal radiation)
●​ Black things do not absorb heat (they absorb thermal radiation)

And remember, a good answer will often include references to more than one
method of thermal energy transfer.
Cooling by Evaporation
●​ Evaporation is a change in state of a liquid to a gas
●​ It happens;
○​ At any temperature
○​ Only from the surface of a liquid
●​
●​ The molecules in a liquid have a range of energies
○​ Some have lots of energy, others have very little
○​ Their average energy relates to the temperature of the liquid
●​ Evaporation occurs when more energetic molecules moving near the surface of
the liquid have enough energy to escape
○​ The average energy of the liquid is reduced
○​ Therefore liquids are cooled down by evaporation

Process of Evaporation

Evaporation occurs when more energetic molecules near the surface of a liquid escape

Factors affecting the Rate of Evaporation

●​ The factors that affect the rate of evaporation are
○​ Temperature
○​ Surface area
○​ Air movement

Temperature
 ●​ Increased temperature increases the kinetic energy of the molecules in the liquid
○​ Molecules with more energy are more likely to overcome the
intermolecular forces holding them in the liquid state and escape the
surface
○​ Therefore higher temperature leads to a higher rate of evaporation

Surface Area
●​ Molecules only escape the intermolecular forces of attraction at the surface of the
liquid
○​ Therefore a larger surface area leads to a higher rate of evaporation

Air Movement
●​ Air movement carries away the water vapour which has just evaporated
○​ This dries the air and allows more water molecules to escape
○​ Therefore increasing air movement (when indoors this is sometimes called
draughts) increases the rate of evaporation

Evaporation & Cooling

●​ The process of evaporation can be used to cool things down:
○​ If an object is in contact with an evaporating liquid, as the liquid cools the
solid will cool as well
○​ This process is used in refrigerators and air conditioning units
○​ This is also why sweating cools skin down - the water evaporates using
energy from the body's thermal store