Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo

14.1 Heat

  • Heat and work are the two distinct methods of energy transfer.
  • Heat is energy transferred solely due to a temperature difference.
  • Any energy unit can be used for heat transfer, and the most common are kilocalorie (kcal) and joule (J).
  • Kilocalorie is defined to be the energy needed to change the temperature of 1.00 kg of water between 14.5ºC14.5ºC and 15.5ºC15.5ºC.
  • The mechanical equivalent of this heat transfer is 1.00 kcal=4186 J.1.00 kcal=4186 J.

14.2 Temperature Change and Heat Capacity

  • The transfer of heat QQ that leads to a change ΔTΔT in the temperature of a body with mass mm is Q=mcΔTQ=mcΔT, where cc is the specific heat of the material. This relationship can also be considered as the definition of specific heat.

14.3 Phase Change and Latent Heat

  • Most substances can exist either in solid, liquid, and gas forms, which are referred to as “phases.”
  • Phase changes occur at fixed temperatures for a given substance at a given pressure, and these temperatures are called boiling and freezing (or melting) points.
  • During phase changes, heat absorbed or released is given by:
    Q=mL,Q=mL,

    where LL is the latent heat coefficient.

14.4 Heat Transfer Methods

  • Heat is transferred by three different methods: conduction, convection, and radiation.

14.5 Conduction

  • Heat conduction is the transfer of heat between two objects in direct contact with each other.
  • The rate of heat transfer Q/tQ/t (energy per unit time) is proportional to the temperature difference T2T1T2T1 and the contact area AA and inversely proportional to the distance dd between the objects:
    Qt=kAT2T1d.Qt=kAT2T1d.

14.6 Convection

  • Convection is heat transfer by the macroscopic movement of mass. Convection can be natural or forced and generally transfers thermal energy faster than conduction. Table 14.4 gives wind-chill factors, indicating that moving air has the same chilling effect of much colder stationary air. Convection that occurs along with a phase change can transfer energy from cold regions to warm ones.

14.7 Radiation

  • Radiation is the rate of heat transfer through the emission or absorption of electromagnetic waves.
  • The rate of heat transfer depends on the surface area and the fourth power of the absolute temperature:
    Qt=σeAT4,Qt=σeAT4,

    where σ=5.67×108J/sm2K4σ=5.67×108J/sm2K4 is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant and ee is the emissivity of the body. For a black body, e=1e=1 whereas a shiny white or perfect reflector has e=0e=0, with real objects having values of ee between 1 and 0. The net rate of heat transfer by radiation is

    Q net t = σ e A T 2 4 T 1 4 Q net t = σ e A T 2 4 T 1 4

    where T1T1 is the temperature of an object surrounded by an environment with uniform temperature T2T2 and ee is the emissivity of the object.

Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/college-physics-ap-courses-2e/pages/1-connection-for-ap-r-courses
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/college-physics-ap-courses-2e/pages/1-connection-for-ap-r-courses
Citation information

© Jul 9, 2024 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.