General Science - Physics: Heat (Notes)

-  Temperature is a relative measure, or indication of hotness or coldness.

-  Heat is the form of energy transferred between two (or more) systems or a system and its surroundings by virtue of temperature difference. The SI unit of heat energy transferred is expressed in joule (J) while SI unit of temperature  is kelvin (K), and °C is a commonly used unit of temperature.

-  Thermometer is a device used for measuring temperatures. The two familiar temperature scales are the Fahrenheit temperature scale and the Celsius temperature scale. The Celsius temperature (tC) and the Farenheit temperare (tF) are related by: tF = (9/5) tC + 32

-  In principle, there is no upper limit to temperature but there is a definite lower limit- the absolute zero. This limiting temperature is 273.16° below zero on the celsius scale of temperature.

-  Clinical thermometer is used to measure our body temperature. The range of this thermometer is from 35°C to 42°C. For other purposes, we use the laboratory thermometers. The range of these thermometers is usually from – 10°C to 110°C. The normal temperature of the human body is 37°C.

-  The heat flows from a body at a higher temperature to a body at a lower temperature.There are three ways in which heat can flow from one object to another. These are conduction, convection and radiation.

-  The process by which heat is transferred from the hotter end to the colder end of an object is known as conduction. In solids, generally, the heat is transferred by the process of conduction.

-  The materials which allow heat to pass through them easily are conductors of heat. For examples, aluminum, iron and copper. The materials which do not allow heat to pass through them easily are poor conductors of heat such as plastic and wood. Poor conductors are known as insulators.

-  In convention heat is carried from one place to another by the actual movement of liquid and gases. In liquids and gases the heat is transferred by convection.

-  The people living in the coastal areas experience an interesting phenomenon.

During the day, the land gets heated faster than the water. The air over the land becomes hotter and rises up. The cooler air from the sea rushes in towards the land to take its place. The warm air from the land moves towards the sea to complete the cycle. The air from the sea is called the sea breeze.

At night it is exactly the reverse. The water cools down more slowly than the land. So, the cool air from the land moves towards the sea. This is called the land breeze.

-  The transfer of heatby radiation does not require any medium. It can take place whether a medium is present or not.

-  Dark-coloured objects absorb radiation better than the light-coloured objects.

That is the reason we feel more comfortable in light-coloured clothes in the summer. Woollen clothes keep us warm during winter. It is so because wool is a poor conductor of heat and it has air trapped in between the fibres.

-  A change in the temperature of a body causes change in its dimensions. The increase in the dimensions of a body due to the increase in its temperature is called thermal expansion. The expansion in length is called linear expansion. The expansion in area is called area expansion. The expansion in volume is called volume expansion.

-  The amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1g of a substancethrough 1° is called specific heat capacity of the substance. The S.I. Unit of specific heat capacity is( J/kg)

-. Water has the highest specific heat capacity which is equal to 4200 (J/kg)K.

-  The specific heat capacity is the property of the substance which determines the change in the temperature of the substance (undergoing no phase change) when a given quantity of heat is absorbed (or rejected) by it. It is defined as the amount of heat per unit mass absorbed or rejected by the substance to change its temperature by one unit. It depends on the nature of the substance and its temperature.

-  The amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a given mass of substancethrough 1° is callede heat capacity or thermal capacity of the substance. It’s S.I. Unit is (J/K).

-  Calorimetry means measurement of heat. When a body at higher temperature is brought in contact with another body at lower temperature, the heat lost by the hot body is equal to the heat gained by the colder body, provided no heat is allowed to escape to the surroundings. A device in which heat measurement can be made is called a calorimeter.