Table of contents

In our daily life, we note that a utensil placed on fire

becomes hot. When one end of the metal is heated,
the other gets heated up after some time. When you
sit near a bonfire you start feeling warm. What is the cause
of these facts?

The answer lies in knowing the phenomena of heat

transfer, which involves the study of various modes of
heat transfer from one body to another.

Modes of Heat Transfer

The movement of heat across the border of the system is due to
a difference in temperature between the system and its surroundings.
Heat always flows from the higher temperature side to the lower
temperature side.
There are three modes of heat transfer:
  Conduction
 Convection
 Radiation

Here is the difference between the three modes of Heat

Transfer:
Try yourself:
Which mode of heat transfer occurs when heat is transferred through
direct contact between two objects?

 A.Conduction
 B.Convection
 C.Radiation
 D.None of the above

View Solution
What is Conduction?
Heat conduction is the transfer of thermal energy (heat)
through direct contact between particles in a material. It
occurs in solids, liquids, and gases, but it is most effective
in solids because the particles are closely packed.
 Conduction
In the figure above area of higher kinetic energy i.e. the end that is in
contact with flame transfers thermal energy towards the lower kinetic energy
area i.e. the other end. High-speed particles clash with particles moving at a
slow speed, as a result, slow-speed particles increase their kinetic energy.
This is a typical form of heat transfer and takes place through physical
contact. When we hold ice cubes in our hands, heat is
transferred from our hands to the ice cube resulting in the
melting of ice cubes. This also happens due to conduction.

 The figure below shows a rod whose ends are in

thermal contact with a hot reservoir at temperature
T and a cold reservoir at temperature T . The sides of
1 2

the rod are covered with an insulating medium, so

the transport of heat is along the rod, not through the
sides.
 The molecules in the hot reservoir have greater
vibrational energy. This energy is transferred by
collisions to the atoms at the end face of the rod.
 These atoms in turn transfer energy to their neighbors
further along the rod. Such transfer of heat through a
substance in which heat is transported without direct
 mass transport is called conduction.

 Most metals use another, more effective mechanism to

conduct heat. The free electrons, which move
throughout the metal can rapidly carry energy from
the hotter to cooler regions, so metals are generally
good conductors of heat.
 The presence of 'free' electrons also causes most
metals to be good electrical conductors.
 A metal rod at 5°C feels colder than a piece of wood at
5°C because heat can flow more easily from your
hand into the metal.
 Heat transfer occurs only between regions that are at

different temperatures, and the rate of heat flow is

. This rate is also called the heat current, denoted by
H.
 Experiments show that the heat current is
proportional to the cross-section area A of the

rod and to the temperature gradient , which is the

 rate of change of temperature with distance along
the bar. In general

 The negative sign is used to make a positive

quantity since is negative.

 The constant k, called the thermal conductivity is a
measure of the ability of a material to conduct heat.
 A substance with a large thermal conductivity is a good
heat conductor. The value of k depends on the
temperature, increasing slightly with increasing
temperature, but k can be taken to be practically
constant throughout a substance if the temperature
difference between its ends is not too great.

Let us apply Eq....(i) to a rod of length L and constant

cross-sectional area A in which a steady state has been
reached. In a steady state, the temperature at each point
is constant in time. Hence.

Therefore, the heat DQ transferred in time dt is

Here, dT = temperature difference (TD) and =

thermal resistance of the rod.
Convection
Convection is the process of heat transfer in fluids by the actual motion of
molecules in the fluids. It happens in liquids as well as gases. It involves
a bulk transfer of portions of the fluid.

 Heating a fluid from beneath triggers thermal

expansion, causing the warmer lower layers to
decrease in density. It's important to note that colder
fluid is denser.
  Consequently, buoyancy forces the less dense, hotter
portion of the fluid to ascend, while the colder, denser
fluid descends to take its place.
 This cycle continues as the heated portion rises and is
replaced by the colder upper layer, illustrating the
mechanism by which heat is transferred via
convection.

Land and Sea Breezes

During the day, the land heats up faster than the sea.
This occurs because the water has greater specific heat
and because mixing currents disperse the absorbed heat
throughout the great volume of water.
The hot air above the land expands and becoming less
dense and hence the warmer air rises and colder air from
the sea takes its place. The warmer air from the land
moves towards the sea to complete the cycle. This create a
breeze from the sea to the land which is called a sea
breeze.
Sea Breeze
During the night, the opposite happens. The land cools
faster than sea. The warm air above the sea rises. This
warm air is replaced by colder air from the land creating
a land breeze.
 Lan
d Breeze
Formation of Trade Winds
 The equatorial and polar regions of the Earth
receive different amounts of solar energy.
 At the equator, the air close to the Earth's surface
becomes warm, while the air in the upper atmosphere
near the poles remains cool.
 This temperature difference creates a convection
current between two regions.
 The warm air at the equator rises and moves toward
the poles, where it cools, descends, and flows back
toward the equator.
 The Earth's rotation affects this current, as the
moving air at the equator has an eastward velocity
of 1600 km/h.
 The air closer to the poles has little to no eastward
speed, so it doesn’t descend at the poles.
Trade Winds

 Instead, it descends at about 30° latitude north and

south and moves back toward the equator.
 This circulation pattern is known as the trade wind.
 Thus, the continuous flow of air from the northeast
toward the equator, close to the Earth’s surface, is
called a trade wind, which is an example of natural
convection.

Try yourself:
Which mode of heat transfer involves the actual motion of molecules in
fluids?

 A.Conduction
 B.Convection
 C.Radiation
 D.Insulation

View Solution
Radiation
The process of the transfer of heat from one place to
another place without heating the intervening medium is
called radiation.
The term radiation used here is another word for
electromagnetic waves. These waves are formed due to
the superposition of electric and magnetic fields
perpendicular to each other and carry energy.
Properties of Radiation
 All objects emit radiation simply because their
temperature is above absolute zero, and all objects
absorb some of the radiation that falls on them from
other objects.
  Maxwell on the basis of his electromagnetic theory
proved that all radiations are electromagnetic waves
and their sources are vibrations of charged particles in
atoms and molecules.
 More radiation is emitted at higher temperatures of a
body and less at lower temperatures.
 The wavelength corresponding to the maximum
emission of radiation shifts from a longer wavelength
to a shorter wavelength as the temperature increases.
Due to this, the color of a body appears to be
changing. Radiations from a body at NTP has
predominantly infrared waves.
 Thermal radiation travels with the speed of light and
moves in a straight line.
 Radiations are electromagnetic waves and can also
travel through a vacuum.
 Similar to light, thermal radiations can be reflected,
refracted, diffracted, and polarized.
 Radiation from a point source obeys inverse square

law (intensity a )

Prevost Theory of Exchange

 According to this theory, all bodies radiate thermal
radiation at all temperatures. The amount of thermal
radiation radiated per unit of time depends on the
nature of the emitting surface, its area, and its
temperature.
 The rate is faster at higher temperatures. Besides, a
body also absorbs part of the thermal radiation
emitted by the surrounding bodies when this
radiation falls on it. If a body radiates more than what
it absorbs, its temperature falls.
 If a body radiates less than what it absorbs, its
temperature rises. And if the temperature of a body
 is equal to the temperature of its surroundings it
radiates at the same rate as it absorbs.

Perfectly Black Body and Black Body Radiation

(Fery's Black Body)

 A perfectly black body is one which absorbs all

the heat radiations of whatever wavelength, is
incident on it. It neither reflects nor transmits any of
the incident radiation and therefore
appears black whatever the color of the incident
radiation.
 In actual practice, no natural object possesses strictly
the properties of a perfectly black body. But the lamp-
black and platinum black are a good approximation
of the black body. They absorb about 99% of the
incident radiation.
 The most simple and commonly used black body was
designed by Fery. It consists of an enclosure with a
small opening which is painted black from inside.
 The opening acts as a perfect black body. Any
radiation that falls on the opening goes inside and has
very little chance of escaping the enclosure before
getting absorbed through multiple reflections.
 The cone opposite to the opening ensures that no
radiation is reflected back directly.

Try yourself:
What type of body is one that absorbs all heat radiations incident on it
and neither reflects nor transmits any of the incident radiation?

 A.Perfectly White Body

 B.Perfectly Red Body
 C.Perfectly Black Body
 D.Perfectly Green Body

View Solution
Absorption, Reflection, and Emission of
Radiations

where r = reflecting power, a = absorptive power and t =

transmission power.
(i) r = 0, t = 0, a = 1, perfect black body
(ii) r = 1, t = 0, a = 0, perfect reflector
(iii) r = 0, t = 1, a = 0, perfect transmitter

(a) Absorptive Power

In particular, absorptive power of a body can be defined as
the fraction of incident radiation that is absorbed by the
body.

a=
As all the radiations incident on a black body are absorbed,
a = 1 for a black body.
(b) Emissive Power
  Consider a small area DA of a body emitting thermal
radiation.
 Consider a small solid angle Dw about the normal to
the radiating surface.
 Let the energy radiated by the area DA of the surface
in the solid angle Dw in time Dt be DU.

 We define emissive power of the body as

Thus, emissive power denotes the energy radiated per unit

area per unit time per unit solid angle along the normal to
the area.
(c) Spectral Emissive Power (E ) l

Emissive power per unit wavelength range at wavelength l

is known as spectral emissive power, E . If E is the total
l

emissive power and E is the spectral emissive power, they

l

are related as follows,

E= and
(d) Emissivity

e= =
Stefan-Boltzmann's Law
Consider a hot body at temperature T placed in an
environment at a lower temperature T . The body emits
0

more radiation than it absorbs and cools down while the

surroundings absorb radiation from the body and warm up.
The body is losing energy by emitting radiation and this
rate.
and is receiving energy by absorbing radiation and this
absorption rate

=
Here, 'a' is a pure number between 0 and 1 indicating the
relative ability of the surface to absorb radiation from its
surroundings. Note that this 'a' is different from the
absorptive power 'a'. In thermal equilibrium, both the body
and the surroundings have the same temperature (say T ), c

and,
P =P
1 2

or
or e = a
Thus, when T > T , the net rate of heat transfer from the
0

body to the surroundings is,

Net heat loss =

or ⇒ Rate of cooling

or
Wein's Displacement Law
Wien’s Displacement Law states that the wavelength (λ ) m

at which a black body emits energy most intensely is

inversely related to its absolute temperature (T). In other
words, as the temperature increases, the peak wavelength
of emitted energy decreases.
Mathematically, this is expressed as:

Summary
1. The
equation

is valid for steady-state conditions. The condition is said to

occur when no part of the heat is used up in raising the
temperature of any part of the cross-section of the solid.
2. On comparing equation (1) with the following equation
used for flowing of charge on account of potential difference.

We
find
:

The role of resistance (thermal resistance) is played by

3. Series combination of conductors
Equivalent thermal conductivity :
where H = heat flow per second
4. Parallel combination of conductors
Equivalent thermal conductivity :
Keq =
5. Davy’s safety lamp is based on conduction. It is used in
mines to know the ignition temperature of gases. The
danger of explosion can be avoided.
6. The principle of chimneys used in a kitchen or a factory
is based on convection.
7. Land and sea breezes are due to the convection.
8. The temperature of the upper part of the flame is more
than the temperature on the sides because the currents
of air carry the heat upwards.
9. Radiation can be detected by differential air
thermometer, Bolometer, thermopile, etc.
10. A good absorber is a good emitter.
11. Cooking utensils are provided with wooden or
ebonite handles since wood or ebonite is a bad
conductor of heat.
12. Good conductors of heat are good conductors of
electricity, Mica is an exception which being a good
conductor of heat is a bad conductor of electricity.