Lecture 5

• Heat Transfer

– Conduction
– Convection
– Radiation

• Phase Changes
 Heat Transfer
The 3 mechanisms of heat transfer:
 Conduction
• Conduction: transfer of heat resulting from
collisions between particles.

– Heat travels between two points at different

temperatures.

• Metals = good conductors of heat.

– Electrons in metals are highly mobile and transfer

energy quickly.
 Conduction
• Insulators: poor
conductors of heat
(glass, wood, air,
plastic foam, wool).

Hot coals are a poor

conductor of heat.
 Conduction
• Insulators do not prevent heat flow, they only
decrease rate of flow.

– Electrons are not mobile – energy transfer very

gradual.

– Air spaces in many insulators – air is a poor

conductor.

– Example: snow is a good insulator because of air-

spaces.
 Convection
• Convection: transfer
of heat by the motion
of fluid as it rises and
sinks.

• Occurs only in fluids

(liquids and gases).
 Radiant Energy
• Radiant Energy: a form of energy that does not require
a medium (matter) to travel through.

• Electromagnetic Waves: a wide spectrum of radiant

energy which includes visible light.

– Travels through a vacuum at 300,000 km/s (186,000 miles/s).

 Radiant Energy
• Dark materials are good absorbers of
radiant energy.
 Terms to be familiar with:
• Thermal Energy: energy matter has due to the
vibration of atoms and molecules.

– Sum of the kinetic energies of all particles in a

sample.

• Temperature: quantity that indicates how warm

or cold an object is relative to some standard.

– Related to average kinetic energy per particle.

A simulation of the motions of helium gas atoms – slowed
down two trillion times from room temperature.
 Thermal Energy
• Heat: the thermal energy transferred from one
thing to another due to temperature difference.

• Second Law of Thermodynamics: heat never

spontaneously flows from a cold substance to a
hot substance.

– Energy has a tendency to become more dispersed –

greater entropy or disorder.
 Temperature
• Celsius Scale – most
common temperature
scale used worldwide.

• 0°C – melting/freezing
point of water.

• 100°C – boiling point

of water.
The volume of a gas changes by 1/273 of its
volume at 0°C with each 1°C change in
temperature.

Absolute Zero: lower limit of temperature at which

molecules have lost all kinetic energy = - 273°C
 Temperature
• Kelvin Temperature Scale:

– Absolute Zero = 0 K

K = °C + 273

0°C = 273 K
100°C = 373 K
- 273°C = 0 K
Particle collisions within CERN’s Large Hadron Collider have
resulted in temperatures exceeding 5 Trillion K.
 Thermal Energy
• Thermal Expansion: as temperature
increases, molecules move more rapidly
and farther apart.

– Most materials expand when heated and

contract when cooled.
Expansion joints in a bridge allow for the structure
to expand and contract without buckling.
• Different substances expand at different
rates.
 Three Phases of Water at
Earth’s Surface
• Liquid
• Solid (Ice)
• Gas (Vapor)

Energy is captured or released upon change

from one phase to another
Molecular Structure of Ice
Liquid Water

H2O(l) Water
Gas (Steam)

H2O(g) Steam
Condenses into liquid
droplets

Water Vapor (Steam)

Energy and Change of Phase

Heat of Vaporization Vapor

Water + Vapor

Water

Ice + Water Heat of Fusion

Ice
 Energy and Phase Changes
• Only one or the other can occur - not both
at the same time:

– Change in temperature
– Change in phase