Heat

Conduction, Convection and Radiation

Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
• Today we are learning about heat

• Explain why thermal energy moves from one object to another

• Describe what thermal energy is using the particle model
• Describe the difference between conductors and insulators
• Explain how convection occurs using the particle model of matter
• Describe how heat can be transferred by radiation
What is Heat?
• Heat is energy that is transferred from a warmer object to a cooler
one
• This energy is called Thermal energy.
• The warmer an object is, the more thermal energy it has.
• The cooler an object is, the less thermal energy it has.
• Thermal energy always flows from warm objects (high thermal
energy) to cooler objects (lower thermal energy).
• Heat transfer can continue until both objects are the same
temperature.
Example 1
• If you have cold hands on a cold day, you can
hold a mug of hot chocolate, and the thermal
energy in the mug moves into your hands to
warm them up.
Example 2
• If you lick an ice cream, thermal energy from your tongue moves to
the ice cream, to make it melt.
• You experience this transfer of heat as coldness.
• It is important to note that there is no such thing as ‘cold energy’. Cold things
just ‘suck up’ the warmth from around them to make them feel colder.
Heat and kinetic energy of particles
• Heat and thermal energy relate to the motion of particles.
• All matter is made up of particles – atoms, molecules or ions – that are too
small to see.
• The particles are always moving and so they have kinetic energy, the energy
of movement.
Heat and kinetic energy of particles
• The particles in solids, liquids and gases have different amounts of
kinetic energy.
• Gases, particles move freely at high speeds and have a lot of kinetic energy.
• Liquids, particles have moderate kinetic energy and the particles slide and
flow over each other.
• Solids, the particles have less kinetic energy and simply vibrate in fixed
positions.
Heat and kinetic energy of particles
• It is the motion of particles that explains thermal energy and the
transfer of heat.
• Hotter substances have more thermal energy because their particles have
more kinetic energy.
• Cooler substances have less thermal energy because their particles have less
kinetic energy.
• All substances have some thermal energy – even very cold ones –
because particles are always moving to some degree.
Heat and kinetic energy of particles
Types of Heat Transfer
Conduction
• Heat is always transferred from areas of higher temperature to areas
of lower temperature.
• Eg: When you cook a pizza in a wood-fired oven one way heat is
transferred is when it moves from the hot bricks on the floor of the
oven to the dough.
• The dough absorbs the heat and begins to cook.
• Similarly, when you hold a slice of hot pizza in your hand, heat is transferred
from the pizza to your skin.
• Conduction involves heat being transferred through direct
contact between two objects.
Conductors and Insulators
• Materials vary in how effectively they conduct heat.
• Any material that allows thermal energy to flow through it easily is
called a conductor.
• All metals are good conductors, although some metals are better than others.
• We use metals to make pots and pans because they conduct heat to the food,
cooking it faster.
• A material that doesn't allow thermal energy to flow through it easily
is called an insulator.
• Plastics, air, wood and cloth are examples of insulators.
Conductors and Insulators
• Solids tend to be better conductors than liquids and gases because of
the way their particles are arranged.
• Conduction requires particles to collide with each other so that kinetic
energy is passed from one particle to another.
• The transfer of kinetic energy between particles explains the transfer of
thermal energy through a substance.
Conductors and Insulators
Types of Heat Transfer
Convection
• Heat can be transferred by a substance flowing from a warmer area to
a cooler area. This type of heat transfer is called convection.
• You may have heard the saying "hot air rises". You can see this in
action when a hot air balloon lifts off the ground.
• As the air inside the balloon heats up, it becomes less dense than the cooler
air outside. The difference in density causes the balloon to rise.
• During the flight, the air inside the balloon cools. This makes the air denser,
causing the balloon to slowly fall.
• These upward and downward movements of air transfer heat and are
examples of convection.
Convection
• Convection also occurs in a lava lamp. In this case it's not hot air rising
but a liquid.
• When the liquid is heated at the bottom of the lamp, it becomes less
dense and rises.
• As it cools, it becomes denser again and slowly falls.
• This up and down movement continues as a cycle.
• So convection can happen in both liquids and gases. In fact, it can
happen in all substances that can flow.
• These substances are known as fluids.
Convection
• Differences in the density of fluids explains why they rise or fall.
• Eg: oil floats on water because the water is more dense.
• Generally, fluids with higher density fall, causing fluids with lower
density to rise.
• When fluids are heated or cooled, their density changes.
• When fluids are heated, the fluid expands, becomes less dense and tends to
rise.
• When fluids are cooled, the fluid contracts, becomes denser and tends to sink.
• Convection is the transfer of heat from one part of the fluid to another
by the upward flow of warmer areas.
Convection
Convection Currents
• When you heat water on a stove, the water is heated unevenly.
• The stove transfers heat to the water at the bottom of the pot.
• The hot water is less dense than the cooler water above it.
• It rises to the top of the pot and loses thermal energy to the surroundings.
• As it cools, it becomes denser and sinks to the bottom of the pot, where it can
be heated again.
• Circular movements of a fluid that are caused by temperature
differences are called convection currents.
• The mixing produced by convection currents helps to spread heat throughout
the fluid.
Convection Currents
Types of Heat Transfer
Radiation
• The Sun's rays heat the Earth. You can feel this heat warming up your
skin when you sit outside on a sunny day.
• The space between the Sun and Earth is a vacuum and contains
practically no matter.
• This means that heat can't be transferred by conduction, or direct contact.
• It also can't be transferred by convection, or the movement of fluids.
• The thermal energy streaming from the Sun does not need particles
at all.
• It travels in invisible waves that move at the speed of light.
• This type of heat transfer, involving waves, is called radiation.
Radiation
• Radiant heat is similar to visible light because they are both examples
of electromagnetic waves.
• But radiant heat involves longer waves than red light, called infrared
radiation.
• This is why you might see the coals of a campfire glowing "red hot".
• All objects radiate heat. We can't see this heat but we can often feel
it.
• The hotter something is, the more heat it radiates.
Radiation
Radiation
• Infrared radiation travels in straight lines. When the waves hit a surface, they can
either:
• bounce off the object – reflection
• be soaked up by the object – absorption
• pass through the object – transmission
• Whether an object reflects, absorbs or transmits radiant heat depends on the type of
material and its colour.
• Eg: A black car heats up more quickly in sunlight than a white car.
• Because dark-coloured objects are good absorbers of radiation.
• In contrast, light-coloured objects tend to reflect radiation.
• Shiny materials are also very good at reflecting radiation.
• Radiation will pass straight through clear objects, such as glass, which transmit radiant
heat.
Radiation