Conduction, convection and radiation

Temperature and heat

Temperature and heat are not the same thing because:

 temperature is a measure of how hot something is;

 heat is a measure of the thermal energy contained in an object;
 Temperature is measured in oC;
 Heat energy is measured in J.

Key fact

Heat energy can flow by conduction, convection or radiation. It always flows from a
region of high temperature to a region of low temperature i.e. from hot to cold.
Convection

Heat can be transferred in liquids or gases by convection.

Fluids
Liquids and gases are fluids because they can be made to flow.
The particles in these fluids can move from place to place.
Convection occurs when particles with a lot of heat energy in a liquid or gas move
and take the place of particles with less heat energy.
Convection in a liquid

Convection in a liquid can be seen by putting a crystal of potassium permanganate in

a beaker of water and gently heating it with a Bunsen flame.
Heat transfer by radiation

Heat can be transferred by infrared radiation.

Unlike conduction and convection - which need the vibration or movement
of particles - infrared radiation is a type of electromagnetic radiation.
When infrared radiation is absorbed by an object it is heated and its temperature
rises.
Because no particles are involved, radiation can work through the vacuum of space.
This is why we can still feel the heat of the Sun even though it is 150 million km away
from the Earth.
Heat radiation investigation
The transfer of infrared radiation from a hot object to cooler surroundings can be
investigated using a piece of apparatus called Leslie’s cube.
This is a metal cube with four side prepared in different ways: black, white, shiny, or
dull.
It can be filled with hot water or heated on an electrical hot plate so that all four sides
are at the same temperature.
Method

1. Measure the temperature a fixed distance from each side of a Leslie's cube
using four identical thermometers.
2. Heat the Leslie’s cube by filling it with boiling water.
 3. Continue to measure and record the temperatures every 30 seconds for five
minutes, then plot a graph of temperature on the y-axis, against time on the x-
axis, for each side.
4. Compare the four graphs obtained.

Control Variables
Distance of each thermometer from the sides of the cube, the type of thermometer
used and the time taken for each reading.
Results
The temperature of the thermometer opposite the dull, black side reaches the
highest temperature in the same time interval.
From this we can say that dark matt surfaces are better at radiating heat energy than
light shiny surfaces.
Key points

 Dark matt surfaces are better at absorbing heat energy than light shiny
surfaces.
 Dark matt surfaces are better at radiating heat energy than light shiny
surfaces.

Surface Absorption Emission

Good absorber of heat Good emitter of heat
Dull, matt or rough radiation radiation
Poor absorber of heat Poor emitter of heat
Shiny radiation radiation

Radiators are often painted with gloss paint, but they would be better at radiating
heat if they were painted with matt black paint instead.
They are painted white to make them look nicer.
However, despite their name, radiators actually transfer most of their heat to a room
by convection, not radiation.
Normally radiant heaters must be at least red hot before they are effective.
Temperature and heat

Temperature and heat are not the same.

The temperature of an object is to do with how hot or cold it is. It is measured

indegrees Celsius, °C, with a thermometer.

Thermal energy is to do with the movement of the particles inside matter.Heating

matter makes the particles vibrate faster or move faster. The hotter the substance,
the more its molecules vibrate or move, so the more they kinetic energy they have.
Thermal energy comes from the total kinetic energy of all the particles.

It is measured in joules, J.

A joulemeter is a device that measures heat energy.

When thermal energy flows, we refer to it as heat energy.

Temperature and heat are not the same thing because:

 Temperature is a measure of how hot an object is.

 Heat is to do with the total kinetic energy of the particles of an object.

 Temperature is measured in °C.

 Heat is a form of energy and is measured in J.

A bowl of soup might have a temperature of 75°C. The sea at Portrush has a
summer temperature of 17°C.

The soup is hotter than the sea water because its temperature is higher.The sea has
more thermal energy because the sea contains many more particles than the soup.

Heat energy can flow by conduction, convection or radiation. It always flows from a
region of high temperature to a region of low temperature i.e. from hot to cold.

Conduction in liquids

 Insert a lump of ice at the bottom of a boiling tube and put a piece of wire gauze on
top of it.
 Fill the tube with water – the wire gauze will stop the ice floating to the top.
 Heat the boiling tube at the top with a Bunsen burner as shown in the diagram.
 Record your observations.

After a short time, the water at the top of the boiling tube boils but the ice cube does not melt.

This shows that water is a bad conductor of heat energy.

Conduction in gases
  Read the thermometers and record the temperatures at A and B in a suitable table.
 Switch on the heater and leave for eight minutes.
 Read the thermometers again and record the temperatures at A and B.

Results
Thermometer A B

Initial temperature in °C 20 20

Final temperature in °C 46 23

Conclusion

Heat has not conducted easily through the trapped air to position B. This shows that trapped
air is a poor conductor (or good insulator).

Summary: conduction

 Conduction is the flow of heat energy from a region of high temperature to a region of
low temperature without overall movement of the material itself.
 Occurs mainly in solids – most liquids are really poor conductors and hardly any
conduction occurs in gases.
 A poor conductor of heat is called an insulator.
 Metals are good conductors of heat.
 Metals are good conductors because they contain free electrons.
 Trapped air is a very good natural insulator.
 Hair, fur, feathers and wool are good insulators because they trap air.

Convection

Convection is the flow of heat energy from a region of high temperature to a region of low
temperature by movement of a fluid. Convection only occurs in fluids (liquids and gases).
Fluids
Liquids and gases are fluids. They can be made to flow from one place to another.
Convection occurs when particles with a lot of heat energy in the fluid move and take the
place of particles with less heat energy.
Convection in liquids
Image caption,
A beaker is heated and the coloured fluid from potassium manganate(VII) crystals shows
convection currents

 Heat is initially transferred from the Bunsen flame through the glass wall of the
beaker by conduction.
 The water in the region of the Bunsen flame is heated.
 It expands, becomes less dense and rises.
 It is replaced by the cooler, denser water which surrounds it.
 This water is in turn heated, expands becomes less dense and rises.
 The process continues, a convection current is set up and heat is transferred through
the liquid.

Since water is a bad conductor of heat it must be heated by convection. Kettles and saucepans
heat water from the bottom so that convection currents are set up easily.

Convection currents can be seen in lava lamps.The wax inside the lamp warms up, expands,
becomes less dense than the surrounding liquid and rises.

Convection in gases
A convection current in air can be demonstrated using the following apparatus.

 A burning splint or piece of rope is blown out so that it is smoky.

 When the smoky rope is held in air the smoke rises.
 The rope is then held over both chimneys in turn as shown above.
 When the rope is held above the candle the smoke rises.
 When the rope is held above the other chimney the smoke is drawn down the
chimney. It then passes across the horizontal section and up through the chimney
above the candle.

What is happening?

 The candle flame heats the air around it.

 The hot air expands and increases in volume.
 The density of the air decreases, and it floats upwards, rising through the chimney.
 Cooler air is sucked in through the other chimney to replace the rising, warm air – a
convection current has been set up.
 The smoke from the smouldering rope shows the path of the cool air.

Applications

Early coal mines were ventilated with fresh air using a similar method. Two shafts were dug
down from ground level to the mine and a fire was lit beneath one of them. As hot air rose
upwards, fresh, clean, cool air was sucked down the other shaft and across the coal mine.
Mind you, lighting a fire in a coal mine did have some safety issues!
Convection and weather

The heating of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere by the Sun causes convection in the
atmosphere and oceans, producing winds, clouds and ocean currents.

For example, as the Sun heats the Earth’s surface, the air above it heats up, expands and rises.
This air can continue to rise, cooling as it does so, forming fluffy, cauliflower-shaped
cumulus clouds.

Sea breezes and land breezes

Temperature differences at the Earth's surface occur where there are different surfaces such
as land and sea.

 During the daytime, along the coast, the land heats up more quickly than the sea
water.
 Air above the land is heated, expands and begins to rise.
 The rising air is replaced by cooler air drawn in from the surface of the sea.
 This is called a sea breeze and can offer a nice way of cooling down on hot summer
afternoons while further inland the heat may be too much to bear.
In the evening and at night the reverse happens:

 Land cools down more quickly than the sea.

 Air above the sea is heated, expands and begins to rise.
 The rising air is replaced by cooler air drawn off the land.
 This is called a land breeze.

A convection current from a radiator

Figure caption,
A convection current in air close to a radiator.

 Air close to the radiator is heated.

 It expands, becomes less dense and rises.
 It is replaced by the cooler, denser air which surrounds it.
 This air is in turn heated, expands becomes less dense and rises.
  The process continues, a convection current is set up and heat is transferred through
the air and so through the room.
 A radiator heats mainly by convection – not by radiation!

Convection currents enable hot air balloons to rise and explains why it is often hotter in
houses upstairs rather than downstairs.
Summary: convection

 Convection is the flow of heat energy from a region of high temperature to a region of
low temperature by movement of a fluid.
o Convection only occurs in fluids - liquids and gases.
o When part of a liquid or gas is heated it expands, becomes less dense and
rises.
o It is replaced by the cooler, denser fluid.
o This liquid or gas is in turn heated, expands becomes less dense and rises.
o This sets up a convection current.

 Wall heaters (“radiators”) heat mainly by convection.

 Trapped air prevents heat loss by conduction and convection.

Radiation

Radiation is the transfer of heat energy from a region of high temperature to a region
of low temperature by infrared radiation.
Unlike conduction and convection, radiation takes place without the need of any
particles. Because no particles are involved, radiation can work through the vacuum
of space. This is why we can still feel the heat of the Sun even though it is 150
million km away from the Earth.

Summary: radiation

 Radiation is the transfer of heat energy from a region of high temperature to a

region of low temperature by infrared radiation.

 Radiation can travel through a vacuum – it does not need a medium (material
or particles) to travel through.

 The Sun radiates heat energy which travels to Earth through the vacuum of
space.

 Objects which take in heat radiation are called absorbers of heat.

 Objects which give off heat by radiation are called emitters of heat.

 Dull black surfaces are the best absorbers and emitters of heat radiation.

 Shiny surfaces are the poor absorbers and emitters of heat radiation – they
are good reflectors.
 Carbon dioxide absorbs infrared radiation.

 Radiators should be painted dull black.