How Heat Is Produced

4th Grade Science

 Objectives
 I can identify ways that heat can be
produced (e.g. burning, rubbing) and
properties of materials that conduct
heat better than others

 Students will describe the movement

of heat between objects.
 Vocabulary
 Energy- is the ability to cause change or
do work.
 Heat- the total energy of moving particles
in matter.
 Thermal Energy- is created by moving
particles that make up matter.
 Solar Energy- is energy created by the
sun.
 Vocabulary
 Conduction- the transfer of heat energy by one thing
touching another.
 Conductor- a material that readily allows heat to move.
 Insulator- a material that limits the amount of heat that
passes through it.
 Conduction- is the transfer of heat energy by one thing
touching another.
 Convection Current- forms when gas or liquid transfers
heat as it moves.
 Radiation- energy that is sent out in little bundles, and is
usually transmitted as light
 How can heat be produced?
 Heat can be produced in several ways:
– Solar radiation
– Rubbing
– Burning
– Electricity
 Can you think of any examples?
Why does matter have energy?
 All matter is tiny particles that are always
moving.
 In a solid, particles are closely packed. They
move slightly around fixed positions.
 In a liquid, they are close together. They flow
freely past one another.
 In a gas, particles are very far apart. They
move in all directions.
 Particles in an object move because they have
energy.
 Measuring Moving Particles
 Temperature is measured with a thermometer.
 Most thermometers are thin glass tubes that are joined
to a bulb that holds colored alcohol.
 If a thermometer touches matter with particles that are
speeding up, particles in the liquid inside the
thermometer speed up too. They move farther apart.
 Because the liquid expands more than the glass tube, it
moves up the tube. The reading on the number line
shows a greater number of degrees.
 If the particles slow down, the liquid contracts. The
shorter column in the tube shows fewer degrees.
 The thermometer must be on or in whatever it’s
measuring.
 Heat and Temperature
 When a material has a high temperature, its particles
move fast.
 The difference between heat and temperature is that
temperature is the measure of particles of matter.
 Temperature is the measure of the average amount of
motion of particles in matter. It measures the average
energy.
 Thermal energy is the total energy of those moving
particles. It measures both how fast the particles move
and how many are moving.
 Heat is the transfer of thermal energy from one piece of
matter to another.
 Heat Transfer
 How does the energy move from a hotter
to a colder object?
 Three mechanisms
– Conduction
– Convection
– Radiation
Conduction
 Conduction
 Stir your hot soup with a metal spoon
 Pretty soon you need a pot holder
because the end of the spoon you are
holding gets hot
 This is heat transfer by conduction
 Energy travels up the spoon from the end
in the hot soup to the end in your hand
 Conduction
 We sense the movement of energy by the
increasing temperature
 This means the atoms and molecules have
higher average kinetic energy
 Primarily occurs by the movement of
electrons in the material
 The more easily the electrons can move,
the better the conduction
 Conduction
 Air is a poor thermal conductor
 If you stand in the sun on a cold winter
day and are shielded from the wind, you
stay pretty warm
 Snow is a poor conductor, while water is
better
 Makes igloos a useful as a house
Convection
 Convection
 When the radiator heats the air, it
becomes less dense and rises
 Cool air moves in to replace the air that
rose
 This generates the air flow
 So radiators don’t need a fan to stir the air
and to distribute heat throughout a room
 The rising air cools until its density
matches that of the surrounding air
 Convection
 Explains why breezes come from the
ocean in the day and from the land at
night
 Radiation
 Energy carried by electromagnetic waves
 Study waves later in detail
 Light, microwaves, radio waves, x-rays
 Wavelength is related to vibration
frequency
 Radiation
 Interior of a car on a sunny day
 Sunlight comes in as visible light
 Seats and interior are much cooler so they
radiate in the infrared instead of visible
 Glass in the windows blocks infrared so
energy can’t get out
 Car interior heats up!
 Lets Review
 There are several ways to create heat.
Can you name them?
 Heat is a form of energy.
 Ticket Out the Door
 Name how heat is produced.
 What happens to the motion of particles
when an object becomes hotter?