Transfer of Heat

Contents
Transfer of Heat ................................................................................................................................................ 2
CONDUCTION : ................................................................................................................................................ 2
Practical uses of bad conductors of heat : ............................................................................................ 3
CONVECTION : ................................................................................................................................................. 5
RADIATION ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
Characteristics of thermal radiation : ........................................................................................................ 6
Detection of heat radiation ........................................................................................................................ 7
Practical applications of heat by radiation : .......................................................................................... 8
Absorption power of a body: .................................................................................................................. 9
Emission power of a body: ...................................................................................................................... 9

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Transfer of Heat
 Meaning of transfer of heat :

The flow of heat from one body to another body , or from one part of the body to
another part of the same body is called as transfer of heat . Heat always flow from a
body at higher temperature to another body at lower temperature . As a result , the
temperature of the hot body falls , while , the temperature of cold body rises . The flow of
heat stops , when the temperature of both the bodies become equal .

There are three was in which can be transferred from one body to another as follows :
Conduction , Convection and Radiation .

CONDUCTION :
‘ Conduction is a process of transfer of heat from a hot end to cold end from one
particle to other particle of the medium .’
Conditions for the conduction of heat :
A medium is always required for transfer of heat by conduction . Hence , conduction
cannot take place in vacuum .
The two objects should be in direct contact with each other .
Temperatures of the two bodies should be different .
Conduction generally takes place in solids . Exception mercury .
Water is a very poor conductor of heat . Instead , all liquids except mercury are poor
conductors of heat .

Mechanism of conduction of heat :

In each solid , atoms are arranged in a regular pattern , which are constantly vibrating
about their mean position under the attractive forces amongst them . On heating one end
of the solid , the atoms at the heated end absorb energy and begin to vibrate with a
large amplitude , without leaving their mean position . They transfer a part of their energy
to the neighbouring atoms and set them in vibration . this process continues till the entire
arrangement of atoms vibrate , thus transferring the heat from hot end to the cold end .

Why are metals much better conductors of heat as compared to non-metals ? OR

Why is the rate of conduction is more in metals than in non-metals ?
In case of metals , the heat is transferred due to the vibration of atoms about their
mean positions as well as due to the drift of free electrons present in them. In non
metals there are no free electrons , and hence the transfer of heat takes place only due
to vibration of electrons about their mean position . At the heated end of a metal , the
free electrons move faster with an increased kinetic energy , and drift towards the cooler
part of the metal , hence transferring heat energy . The rate of conduction by a metal
depends directly on the number of free electrons in it . hence , larger is the concentration
of free electrons , more is the rate of conduction . Hence metals are much better

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conductors of heat as compared to non-metals or , the rate of conduction is more in

metals than in non-metals .

Note : Amongst all metals , silver is the best conductor , while lead is a poorest
conductor of heat .
All liquids except mercury are poor conductors of heat . Water is a poor conductor of
heat .
All gases are poor conductor of heat . Air is a poor conductor of heat .

Practical uses of bad conductors of heat :

1.) Double walled windows :
In cold countries , and centrally air-conditioned buildings or railway compartments ,
windows are provided with two glass panes with a layer of air in between . Since air is
a poor conductor of heat , it prevents the conduction of heat through the window on
either sides . So , no conduction takes place from the room to the surroundings outside in
winter , while , in summers there is no conduction from the
surroundings outside to the room .
2.) Insulating cover to pipes :
In cold countries , water pipes are covered with poor
conductors which do not allow the heat to pass from the
water inside the pipe to the atmosphere outside , so as to
prevent the water from freezing , and hence , saving the
pipes from bursting .

3.) Thatched roofs :

In hot countries , a layer of mud and straw is laid over the roof of the house , and in
between the concrete and brick tiles , because , this layer does not conduct the heat due
to the sun through the roofs into the room of house , thus keeping the room cool
during summer .

4.) Woollen clothes:

Woollen clothes have fine pores filled with air. Wool and air are bad conductors of heat.
Therefore in winter we wear woollen clothes as they do not conduct heat from the body
to the surroundings and thus keep the body warm .
5.) Quilts:
Quilts are filled with fluffy cotton. Cotton has air trapped in it. Both cotton and air are
bad conductors of heat . So ,they provide a good heat insulation and reduces the heat

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 Transfer of Heat 4

conduction from our body to the surrounding , thus keeping us warm during winter
season. A newly made quilt is warmer than the old one. This is because the cotton in
the old quilt gets compressed so very little air remains trapped in it as compared to the
newly made quilt.
6.) Insulation in household appliances:
Oven , icebox , walls and doors of refrigerator are provided with double walled structures with
installation such as glass wool , cork and polystyrene is filled in the in- between space so that
heat from outside is not conducted through walls into the refrigerator .

7.) Insulation to hot water storage tank:

Hot water storage tanks or boilers and steam pipes are covered
with a layer of plaster mixed with asbestos to prevent the loss of
heat of water by conduction to the surrounding.
8.) Gunny bags:
In summers or in hot countries slabs of ice are prevented by
wrapping them around with loosely woven materials like gunny
bags or flannel. This is because the air trapped in the wrapping
material being a bad conductor does not conduct heat from outside
to the ice placed inside it .Thus the ice does not melt for a
sufficiently long time .
9.) Hollow bricks:
In a cold storage , the walls are made of thick bricks . The reason being
bricks are bad conductors of heat . For still better insulation , hollow bricks are used or an air
gap is provided between two bricks. Air being a poor conductor of heat further reduces the
conduction of heat from outside to the room.

Practical uses of good conductors:

1.) Cooking utensils
Cooking involves a transfer of heat from the
flame to the food being cooked . Thus the utensils should be made
of good conductors such as copper, aluminium, brass, steel etc. for
efficient cooking. Sometimes steel utensils are provided with a
copper base from outside . This is because copper is a better
conductor than steel.

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2.) Soldering iron:

Soldering iron is used for joining wires in any electric circuit . The
bit of soldering iron is made of copper . When it is made to touch
the materials to be soldered , heat rapidly flows from the heated parts
of the bit to the tip . In this case the temperature of the tip becomes
higher than the melting point of the soldering material , and it melts .
thus two wires in the circuit can be joined .

3.) Wire gauze :

Glass container when kept directly over the flame may crack due to uneven
heating of its different parts. That is why a wire gauze is placed over tripod
stand between the flame and the glass container . A wire gauze is made from
iron wire . Iron is a good conductor of heat .Wire gauge distributes heat
uniformly over it which helps in uniform
heating of the glass container , and thus
preventing it from cracking.

CONVECTION :
‘Convection is a process of heat transfer by actual movement of medium particles.’

A medium is required for transfer of heat by convection . In vacuum heat cannot be transferred by
convection . Liquids and gases are bad conductors of heat . They are heated mainly by the process
of convection . Solids can't be heated by the process of convection . In the process of convection ,
transfer of heat is always vertically upwards . The reason being , the particles of medium near the
source of heat absorb heat and start moving fast . As a result the medium near the source of heat
expand, and become less dense and it rises up, and the medium from the surrounding and above
being denser moves to take its place. Thus a current is set up in the medium which is called a
convection current . The convection current continues till the entire medium acquires the same
density and temperature.

Practical uses of convection:

1.) Ventilation:
Fresh air is essential for good health and so there must be some arrangement for ventilation in a
room by which hot impure air of the room is replaced by cool fresh air . This is achieved by
making an opening near the ceiling of the room called the ventilator . The air which we breathe out
being warm is light . So it rises up in the room and goes out through the ventilator . The cool
fresh air from outside enter the room through the doors and windows to take its place and there's
a convection current set up. In kitchen too there is a ventilator near the ceiling so that the fumes
and lighter gases like carbon monoxide which are produced by burning of coal or gas pass out
through the ventilator and fresh air enters the kitchen through the windows . The exhaust fans fitted
near the ceiling or in a bathroom also serves the same purpose.

2.) Chimneys in factories:

Chimneys are fitted over furnaces in factories to permit the escape
of undesired fumes and smoke. Hot gases, fumes and smoke coming

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from the furnace are lighter than air and rise up through the chimney .Thus the chimney helps us to
remove the fumes and smoke from the factories .

3.) Installation of air conditioner :

For effective cooling the air conditioner should be installed about
the level of window . The cool air from the air conditioner being
heavier or denser moves downwards and the warm air of the room
moves upwards. Thus a convection current is set up and the
circulation of air helps in quicker cooling.

4.) The freezer in a refrigerator:

The freezer or cooling chest in a refrigerator is generally provided in the upper
part of the refrigerator . The air in the upper portion of the refrigerator , and
which is in contact with the freezer gets cooled and move down into the lower
portion. The warm air from the lower portion being lighter moves up.
Thus convection currents are set in refrigerator which leads to cooling of the
entire space in it.

5.) Installation of room heater :

Room heater is installed in a room near the floor so that the warm air near the heater rises up
and the cold air from above comes down to take its place. Thus convection currents are set up in
the entire the room.

RADIATION
‘Radiation is a direct transfer of heat from a hot body to a cold body having no contact between
them and without the help of any medium.’

Characteristics of thermal radiation :

 Thermal radiation is also called infrared radiation.
 They are not visible to the human eye .
 They do not heat the medium through which it pass.
 It can travel through vacuum .That is , it does not need any medium to travel.
 It travels along a straight line path in all directions with a speed equal to that of the speed of
light.

In vacuum heat is transferred only by the process of radiation. The heat energy transferred by the
process of radiation is called the radiant heat or the thermal radiation , that travel from the source in
all directions along a straight line with a speed equal to the speed of light . They do not heat the
medium through which they pass . They are reflected by the polished and white surfaces . They are
absorbed by the dark and black surfaces . These heat radiations are also called infrared radiations.
Heat radiation are invisible.

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Detection of heat radiation

1.) By using a blackened bulb thermometer:

Black surfaces are good absorbers while white surfaces are poor absorbers of heat
radiations. If an ordinary thermometer is kept at a certain distance from a source
of heat it does not show much rise in temperature . But, if the bulb of the
thermometer is blackened and then kept at the same distance from the source of
heat , the thermometer shows a much rapid and higher rise in temperature . Thus, a
blackened bulb thermometer can be used to detect the presence of heat radiations
more efficiently.

2.) By using a differential air thermoscope:

Construction:
Differential air thermoscope consists of a glass U shaped tube fitted with two identical hollow
metallic bulbs A and B fitted one at each end.
Bulbs A and B contain air .The outer surface of bulb A is blackened while that of bulb B is polished .
The U-shaped tube is partly filled with a coloured liquid or alcohol and is then mounted vertically
on a wooden stand.

Working :
Initially the liquid in both the limbs of U-shaped tube
is at the same level . Place a source of heat or a
burning candle or a glowing electric bulb in the
middle of the two bulbs , at an equal distance .
Observe the level of liquid in both the limbs after
some time .The liquid level in limb A falls, while that
in limb B , rises . This is because , black surfaces
absorb more heat from the glowing bulb . As a result
the air inside the bulb A expand to push the liquid
from limb A to the other limb B , there by causing a difference in the levels of the liquid in the
two columns . The difference between the level of liquid in the two limbs depends on the intensity of
heat radiation emitted from the source .

3.) By using a thermopile :

A thermopile is a sensitive device used to detect the presence of heat radiations , by converting the
heat energy to electrical energy .
A thermopile consists of a large number of antimony and bismuth rods alternately connected in
series . One junction of rods are exposed to heat radiations , and form te hot junction of thermopile
‘A’. The set of other junctions is suitably shielded from the heat radiations and forms the cold
junction ‘B’. Ends of pile of these rods are connected to a sensitive galvanometer .

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In presence of heat radiations , due to a difference in temperature of the two junctions, A and B , a
current flows across the hot junction from bismuth to antimony, thus showing a deflection through
the galvanometer .

Practical applications of heat by radiation :

1.) Why do you feel warm when you sit in sun?
We get heat from sun by the process of radiation and not by conduction or convection, because both
of these processes require a medium while , most of the space between the sun and the earth is
vacuum.

2.) When we sit near a fire we feel warm because , heat is transferred to us by
the process of radiation . In this case it is not transmitted to us by
conduction since air is a bad conductor of heat and neither by convection,
since hot air always rises upwards and it neither moves sideways nor
downwards. In this case the heat is irradiated from the
source in all directions and hence we get heat only by radiation.

3.) Why do you think it is cool in the shade when it is hot outside ?
This is because the heat radiation travel along a straight line path and hence
cannot reach inside the shade. Hence it is cool inside the shade whereas , the
heat from the sun reaches outside in open ,and hence it is hot outside.

4.) In a toaster heat is produced by passing current in

the heating coils which are arranged on both sides of a
central gap. The slices of bread to be toasted are placed in between the two
coils in the central gap. The slices get toasted mainly by the process of
radiation from the heated coils, and not by the heat of conduction or
convection.

5.)Utensils used for heating water for cooking are usually painted
black at the bottom from outside. This is done so that they can
absorb more heat , so that cooking gets faster . Utensils are highly
polished both from inside and outside all around except the bottom .
Polished surfaces are poor or bad radiators and hence food in these
utensils remains warm for a longer time.

6.)We wear white or light coloured clothes during summers but dark coloured clothes during winters
.This is because white or light coloured clothes reflect most of the sun's heat and
only a little of it is absorbed , thus keeping us cool in summers. On the other
hand black or dark coloured clothes absorb more heat and keep us warm during
winters.

7.)An electric room heater is provided with a curved polished metal reflector and
a heating element is placed at the centre and along the axis of this reflector. The
reflector reflects almost the entire heat radiated by the backside of the element to
the front side, and hence a person sitting in front of the room heater feels warm.

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8.)The inner surface of solar cooker and solar water heater is painted black. This is
because black surface absorbs the heat received from the sun to cook the food in
solar cooker or to heat the water in solar water heater.

9.)Petrol storage tanks kept in open are painted with aluminium paint. This is because the
shiny surface reflects the heat coming from the sun and keeps
the petrol in the storage tank cool.

10.)The glass of the car windows are covered with reflecting solar films
so that such films reflect away the heat radiation coming from sun and
keeps the inside of the car cool.

11.) In hot country houses are painted

with white and light coloured paints from
outside so that they reflect heat from
the sun and keep the interior cool.

Absorption power of a body:

Every body absorbs a part of radiant heat falling on it . Rest of radiant heat is either transmitted or
reflected by the body. Absorption power is different for different bodies. A dull or a black surface is
a better absorber of radiant heat than a polished or white surface. A black coloured body absorbs up
to 95 percent of the radiant heat falling on it. A polished or a white surface is a good reflector or a
poor absorber.

Emission power of a body:

Each body emits heat radiations at all temperatures. The emission power of different bodies even at
the same temperature is different. A dull or black surface emits more heat energy than a polished or
white surface when both are at the same temperature. Black or a dull surface is a good absorber
more than a polished or white surface.

Hence we can say that good absorber is a good emitter or radiator while a poor absorber is a poor
emitter or radiator.

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ICSE - PHYSICS