Mode of heat Transfer

Conduction of heat: The process of transmission of heat in a body without the actual movement
of its particles is called conduction.
Steady state: The state of the body in which no part of the body absorbs heat is known as steady
state.
Isothermal surface: Any surface of a material whose all points are at the same temperature is
known as isothermal surface. The direction of heat flow at the point in the material is normal to
the isothermal surface.

Temperature gradient: The rate of change of temperature with distance between two isothermal
surfaces is known as temperature gradient between the surfaces.
change in temperature
T.G
Distance

x
The ve sign indicates that temperature decreases in the direction of flow. Its unit is
1
km .
Thermal conductivity: The ability of a conductor to conduct heat is known as thermal
conductivity.
Experimentally it was found that the quantity of heat Q conducted is,
a) Directly proportional to area of cross section `A`.
b) Directly proportional to the temperature difference between the two faces (1 2 ) .
c) Directly proportional to the time of passage of heat `t`.
d) Inversely proportional to the thickness of the block `d`.
A(1 2 )t
Thus Q
d
kA(1 2 )t
Q
d
Where k is a constant known as Co-efficient of thermal conductivity of the material which
depends on the nature of the material.
If A 1m2 , (1 2 ) =1k & t=1s, d=1m then Q = K . Thus co-efficient of thermal
conductivity is defined as the quantity of heat flowing per second through unit area of a block of
unit thickness when temperature difference between the two faces is 1k.

Examples:
1) When hot water is poured into a beaker of thick glass, the beaker cracks.
2) Ice is prevented form melting by wrapping with a blanket.
3) Cooking utensils are made of aluminium, brass and steel because they are good
conductors of heat.
Convection: The process transmission of heat by the actual motion of the medium is known as
convection. This mode of heat transfer is slow.
Ex: Boiling of water
Radiation of heat: The process by which heat is transmitted form one point to another without
the action of any material in between.
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Thermal radiation: The energy radiated from a hot body is known as thermal radiation.
Properties of thermal radiation:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)

They are transverse in nature.

They travel in straight lines without affecting the medium.
They travel with the speed of light in vaccum.
They undergo reflections & refraction.
They exhibit interference, diffraction & polarization.
The intensity of radiations decrease with distance.
When a body absorbs radiations, it becomes hot.

Reflection Co-efficient(r) : It is the ratio of amount of thermal radiation reflected from a surface
to the total radiation incident on it.
If R be the amount of radiation reflected by surface & I the total amount of radiation
incident of it, then
R
r
I
Absorption Co-efficient(a) :It is the ratio of amount of thermal radiation absorbed by a
surface to the total radiation incident on it.
A
a
I
Where A be the amount of radiation absorbed by a surface.

Transmission Co-efficient(t): It is the ratio of amount of thermal radiation transmitted by a

surface to the total radiation incident on it.
T
t
I
Where T is the amount of radiation transmitted by a surface.
Wkt R + A + T = I
R A T
Or 1
I
I
I
Emissive power: It is the total energy radiated per unit time per unit area at a particular
temperature.
Absorptive power: It is the ratio of amount of thermal radiation absorbed by the body to the total
amount of thermal radiation incident on that body.
Kirchoffs law of radiation: It states that at any given temperature, the ratio of emissive
power to the absorptive power corresponding to a certain wavelength is constant for all
bodies & this constant is equal to the emissive power of a perfectly black body at the same
temperature & wavelength.
If e & a be the emissive & absorptive power of a black body corresponding to a
wavelength , then
e
E
a
Where E is the emissive power of a perfectly black body.
Note: Good emitters are good absorbers. e & a Depends on nature of the body.

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Black body: When radiations are incident on a body they neither reflect nor transmit the light
but in turn the light is totally absorbed by the body itself. Such a body is known as black body.
The radiations emitted by a black body is known as black body. In practice there is no
perfectly black body.
A black body consist of a double-walled hollow
metal with a narrow opening. It is coated with lamp black
and polished surface. When thermal radiations are incident
on it, the uneven surface, multiple reflections takes place & at each
reflection the body absorbs energy & at the end all the radiations gets
absorbed.
Stefans law: According to it, the total amount of energy radiated per second per unit area of a
perfectly black body is directly proportional to the fourth power of the absolute temperature of
the surface of the body.
If E is the heat energy radiated per second per unit area of a black body & T is the
absolute temperature then
E T 4 E T4
Where is known as stefans constant& its value is 5.672 108 Wm2 k4
This law holds good only if the radiating body is perfectly black body.
Note: 1) If the radiating body is not a perfectly black body then the law will be E eT where
e is the emissivity of the surface.
4
2) E (T T 4 ) where T is the temperature of black body & T be the absolute temperature.
4

3) E eA(T T ) where A is the area of the black body.

4

Newtons law of cooling: The rate of loss of heat is known as rate of cooling. If dQ is the amount
of heat lost in a time dT, then the rate of loss of heat is R

dQ
where ve sign indicates that
dT

intensity

the amount of heat is decreasing with time.

If is the temperature of the body & be the temperature of the surroundings then rate of
cooling is
R ( )
dQ

( )
dT
k ( )
Where k is known as cooling constant.
Limitations: 1) The surface should be perfectly black.
2) The loss of radiation should take place only through radiation.
3) The excess of temperature must be very small.
4) The air in which the body is kept should be still.
Distribution of energy in a blackbody:
Graph of intensity of radiation against wavelength, it
is energy distribution curve.
T1
The results of the graph are
1) The curve for a higher temperature
T2
completely encloses the curve at a lower
temperature.
2) The emission of energy is very small
for radiations of shorter wavelength and

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longer wavelength.
3) As the temperature increases, the wavelength corresponding to the maximum
intensity shifts towards the shorter wavelength.
4) The area under the curve is a measure of total radiation emitted & is proportional to the
fourth power of absolute temperature.

Weins displacement law: The amount of energy radiated by a black body is not uniformly
distributed over all the radiations emitted by the body.
If m be the wavelength of most intense radiation & T is the absolute temperature of the
body then
1
m
mT b
T
Where `b` is known as weins constant & its value is 2.888 103 m k . It states that
the wavelength corresponding to the most intense radiation is inversely proportional to the
absolute temperature of the body.

Solar constant
Solar constant is defined as the amount of heat energy received per second per unit area
of a perfectly black surface placed at a mean distance of the earth from the sun, the surface
being held normal to the direction of suns rays.
Solar constant is denoted by S and its value is found to be 1.34kWm-2.
Temperature of the sun
The sun consists of outer photosphere surrounded by chromosphere with the central inner core.
The temperature of photosphere is known as the surface temperature of sun. It is given by the
expression
Solar constant S = r2/R2T4 or T = [(R/r)2S/]1/4

Pyrometry
It is branch of physics which deals with the measurement of high temperatures. There are many
types of radiation pyrometers, but total radiation pyrometer is very commonly used.

Total Radiation Pyrometer

A Total radiation pyrometer is used to measure very high
temperatures. When a body is at avery high temperature, it glows
brightly and the radiation emitted per second per unit area of the
surface of the body is proportional to the forth power of the
absolute temperature of the body.
Radiation coming from a hot body is incident on a concave mirror.
The radiations after reflected get focused on a blackened strip. The
blackened strip is attached to the hot junction of a thermocouple
thermometer. The milli-voltmeter is connected to the thermometer
circuit.
When radiations are incident on the mirror, after reflection they are focused on the blackened
strip. As a result, temperature of the strip rises and develops a thermo emf in the circuit. This is
read by milli-voltmeter is calibrated directly in degrees so that the temperature of hot body can
be read directly. The main advantages of this pyrometer is that the hot body is not in contact
with it.

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