1. What is an isotherm? What is a heat flow line?

How are the two lines related geometrically?

Isotherm-line of constant temperature
Heat Flow Line-Directions of the heat flux vector
Heat flow lines cross the isotherms, in the
direction of the heat flux.
2. What is an adiabat? How is it related to a line of
symmetry? How is it intersected by an isotherm?
Adiabat- Heat flow lines, no heat can be conducted
across these lines. An adiabat is a summetry line.
Adiabats intersect isotherms at specific points (x,
T).
3. What parameters characterize the effect of
geometry on the relationship between the heat
rate and the overall temperature difference for
steady conduction in a two-dimensional system?
How are these parameters related to the
conduction resistance?
Shape factors? Not sure about this one. Shape
factors are inversely related to the conduction
resistance.
4. What is represented by the temperature of a
nodal point, and how does the accuracy of a nodal
temperature depend on prescription of the nodal
network?
Temperature of a nodal point represents the
temperature of that specific, discrete point. The
accuracy increases with more prescribed nodes, a
more detailed network.
1. Under what conditions may the lumped
capacitance method be used to predict the
transient response of a solid to a change in the
thermal environment?
The lumped capacitance method is valid if the Biot
Number (Bi) .much less than 1
2. What is the physical interpretation of the Biot
number?
The Biot number provides a measure of the
temperature drop in the solid relative to the
temperature difference between the solid's
surface and the fluid. It may also be interpreted as
a ratio of thermal resistances (conduction to
convection).
3. Is the lumped capacitance method of analysis
likely to be more applicable for a hot solid being
cooled by forced convection in air or in water? By
forced convection in air or natural convection in
air?
The lumped capacitance method is more
applicable for forced convection in water than in
air, and is more applicaple for forced convection in
air than for natural convection in air.

4. Is the lumped capacitance method of analysis

likely to be more applicable for cooling of a hot
solid made of copper or aluminum? For silicon
nitride or glass?
Lumped capacitance method is more applicable for
copper than aluminum and silicon nitride.
4. What parameters determine the time constant
associated with the transient thermal response of
a lumped capacitance solid? Is this response
accelerated or decelerated by an increase in the
convection coefficient? By an increase in the
density or specific heat of the solid?
The time constant is calculated as
(1/hA)*(rho*V*c). Increasing the convection
coefficient (h) would decrease the time constant
thus accelerating the response. Increasing the
density would decelerate the response; increasing
the specific heat would decelerate the response.
5. For one-dimensional, transient conduction in a
plane wall, a long cylinder, or a sphere with
surface convection, what dimensionless
parameters may be used to simplify the
representation of thermal conditions? How are
these parameters defined?
Either theta star, zeta and C or the Biot number?
Not sure? Theta star is a function of the Fourier
and Biot numbers. It is defined as the currrent
temperature difference over the inital
temperature difference. Zeta and C are based on
the Biot number. Biot number is based on
convection and conduction resistances, and the
Fourier number is a dimensionless time parameter
defined as (alpha*t)/(L^2)
7. Why is the semi-infinite solution applicable to
any geometry at early times?
During the early portion of the transient,
temperatures are essentially uninfluenced by the
change in surface conditions. The early portion of
the transient might correspond to very small
Fourier numbers, thus approximate solutions of
the geometries are not valid.
8. What is the physical interpretation of the
Fourier number?
(t/L^2)- the ratio of the heat conduction rate
tothe rate of thermal energy storage in a solid.
Dimensionless time
9. What requirement must be satisfied for use of a
one-term approximation to determine the
transient thermal response of a plane wall, a long
cylinder, or a sphere experiencing one-dimensional
conduction due to a change in surface conditions?
At what stage of a transient process is the
requirement not satisfied?
For a one-term approximation, the condition
Fo>0.2 must be satisfied. The requirement is not
satisfied once the time dependence of the
temperature at any location is not the same as
that of the midpoint temperature.

10. What does transient heating or cooling of a

plane wall with equivalent convection conditions
at opposite surfaces have in common with a plane
wall heated or cooled by convection at one surface
and well insulated at the other surface?
The boundary condition is of the form
dtheta*/dx*=0 so they can be solved similarly. See
Section 5.5.4
11. How may a one-term approximation be used to
determine the transient thermal response of a
plane wall, long cylinder, or sphere subjected to a
sudden change in surface temperature?
The process is equivalent to having an infinite
convection coefficient, in which case the Biot
number is infinite and the fluid temperature is
replaced by the prescribed surface temperature.
12. For one-dimensional, transient conduction,
what is implied by the idealization of a semiinfinite solid? Under what conditions may the
idealization be applied to a plane wall?
The solid extends to infinity in all but one
direction, thus characterized by a single
identifiable surface. The idealization may be
applied to a plane wall during the early portion of
the transient.
13. What differentiates an explicit, finitedifference solution to a transient conduction
problem from an implicit solution?
Explicit solution is a forward-difference
approximation based solution. Unknown nodal
temperatures for the new time are determined
exclusively by kno
wn nodal temperatures at the previous time.
Implicit is a backward difference approximation
approach. The new temperature of the node
depends on the new temperatures of its adjoining
nodes.
14. What is meant by characterization of the
implicit finite-difference method as
unconditionally stable? What constraint is placed
on the explicit method to ensure a stable solution?
The implicit method solution remains stable for all
space and time intervals. For the explicit method
to remain stable, the delta t is chosen based on
stability requirements affected by the delta x and
other parameters.