Activity No.

Modes of Heat Transfer

Submitted By:
Jericho Paulo R. Rosales
BSME IV-GO
 1. CONDUCTION:

Conduction is the mode of heat transfer occurs from one part of a substance to another part
of within the substance itself or with another substance which is placed in physical contact. In
conduction, there is no noticeable movement of molecules. You might be think that then how
this heat transfer occurs? The heat transfer occurs here by the two mechanisms happen.

Conduction is the transfer of heat between substances that are in direct contact with each
other. The better the conductor, the more rapidly heat will be transferred. Metal is a good
conduction of heat. Conduction occurs when a substance is heated, particles will gain more
energy, and vibrate more. These molecules then bump into nearby particles and transfer some of
their energy to them. This then continues and passes the energy from the hot end down to the
colder end of the substance.

Heat energy can move through a substance by conduction. Metals are good conductors of heat,
but non-metals and gases are usually poor conductors of heat. Poor conductors of heat are called
insulators. Heat energy is conducted from the hot end of an object to the cold end.
The electrons in piece of metal can leave their atoms and move about in the metal as free
electrons. The parts of the metal atoms left behind are now charged metal ions. The ions are
packed closely together and they vibrate continually. The hotter the metal, the more kinetic
energy these vibrations have. This kinetic energy is transferred from hot parts of the metal to
cooler parts by the free electrons. These move through the structure of the metal, colliding with
ions as they go.

= heat transferred in time =

= thermal conductivity of the barrier

area

= temperature

= thickness of barrier
Another Formula:

Fourier Law of Conduction:

Q = -kAdT/dx

Where:

Q is the heat flow rate by conduction

K is the thermal conductivity of the material

A is the cross sectional area normal to direction of heat flow and

dT/dx is the temperature gradient of the section.

Examples of Conduction:

 A cold cast iron skillet is placed onto a stovetop. When the stove is turned on, the skillet
becomes very hot due to the conduction of heat from the burner to the skillet.
 You decide to touch the handle of the skillet after it has been on for several minutes, and
now the handle is hot, too. This is because heat was conducted through the portion of the
skillet in contact with the stovetop all throughout the rest of the skillet.
 A shirt is placed on an ironing board to be ironed. Heat from the iron is conducted to the
shirt, making it easy to iron out all those unsightly wrinkles and make the shirt look
sharp.
 The engine of a car is turned on, and the hood becomes warm due to the conduction of
heat from the engine to the hood of the car.
 A cube of ice is placed into the hand of a man. Over time, heat conducted from the man’s
hand to the ice cube will cause the ice to melt.
 2. CONVECTION
Conductive heat transfer occurs within a fluid itself and it is carried out by transfer of one
fraction of the fluid to the remaining portion. Hence unlike conduction, transfer of molecules
occurs during convection. Since movement of particles constitutes convection, it is the macro
form of heat transfer. Also convection is only [possible in fluids where the particles can moved
easily and the rate of convective heat transfer depends on the rate of flow to a great extend.

Liquids and gases are fluids. 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. Heat energy is transferred from hot places to cooler
places by convection.

Liquids and gases expand when they are heated. This is because the particles in liquids and
gases move faster when they are heated than they do when they are cold. As a result, the particles
take up more volume. This is because the gap between particles widens, while the particles
themselves stay the same size.

The liquid or gas in hot areas is less dense than the liquid or gas in cold areas, so it rises into
the cold areas. The denser cold liquid or gas falls into the warm areas. In this way, convection
currents that transfer heat from place to place are set up.
Newton’s Law Of Cooling:

Q = hA(Ts-T∞)
Where:

Ts- the surface temperature

T∞ -the fluid temperature

h- the heat transfer coefficient

Example of Convection:

 Boiling water - The heat passes from the burner into the pot, heating the water at the bottom.
Then, this hot water rises and cooler water moves down to replace it, causing a circular motion.
 Radiator - Puts warm air out at the top and draws in cooler air at the bottom.
 Steaming cup of hot tea - The steam is showing heat being transfered into the air.
 Ice melting - Heat moves to the ice from the air. This causes the melting from a solid to liquid.
 Hot air balloon - A heater inside the balloon heats the air and so the air moves upward. This
causes the balloon to rise because the hot air gets trapped inside. When the pilot want to descend,
he releases some of the hot air and cool air takes it place, causing the balloon to lower.
 Frozen material thawing - Frozen food thaws more quickly under cold running water that if it
is placed in water. The action of the running water transfers heat into the food faster.
3. RADIATION
Radiation is the third mode of heat transfer. This mode of heat transfer didn’t require any
medium to occur. Every matter having a temperature above absolute zero will emit energy in
the form of electromagnetic waves and called radiation. It is the same way the energy of the
Sun reach us. The key features about radiation are it do not require any medium and also
laws of reflection is applicable for radiation.

All objects give out and take in thermal radiation, which is also called infrared
radiation. The hotter an object is, the more infrared radiation it emits.
Infrared radiation is a type of electromagnetic radiation that involves waves. No particles are
involved, unlike in the processes of conduction and convection, so radiation can even work
through the vacuum of space. This is why we can still feel the heat of the Sun, although it is
150 million km away from the Earth.

Stefan- Boltzman Law:

Q = A∑Ts⁴

Where:

Ts is the absolute temperature of surface

∑ is the proportionality constant.

Example of Radiation:

 A person placing their cold hands over a warm fire

The Black Body

The black body is defined as a body that absorbs all radiation that falls on its surface. Actual
black bodies don't exist in nature - though its characteristics are approximated by a hole in a box
filled with highly absorptive material. The emission spectrum of such a black body was first fully
described by Max Planck.

A black body is a hypothetical body that completely absorbs all wavelengths of thermal radiation
incident on it. Such bodies do not reflect light, and therefore appear black if their temperatures
are low enough so as not to be self-luminous. All black bodies heated to a given temperature
emit thermal radiation.

The radiation energy per unit time from a black body is proportional to the fourth power of
the absolute temperature and can be expressed with Stefan-Boltzmann Law as

q = σ T4
where:

q = heat transfer per unit time (W)

σ = 5.6703 10-8 (W/m2K4) - The Stefan-Boltzmann Constant

T = absolute temperature in Kelvin (K)

A = area of the emitting body (m2)

The Stefan-Boltzmann Constant in Imperial Units

= 1.714 10-9 ( Btu/(h ft2 oR4) )

= 1.19 10-11 ( Btu/(h in2 oR4) )