Heat Transfer Essay

Heat energy is transferred through three ways- conduction, convection and radiation. All three are able to transfer heat from one place to another based off of different principles however, are all three are connected by the physics of heat. Let’s start with heat- what exactly is heat? We can understand heat by knowing that “heat is a thermal energy that flows from the warmer areas to the cooler areas, and the thermal energy is the total of all kinetic energies within a given system.” (Soffar, 2015) Now, we can explore the means to which heat is transferred and how each of them occurs. Heat is transferred through conduction at the molecular level and in simple terms, the transfers occurs through physical contact. In conduction, “the substance

Again, it is the most common means of energy transfer and by understanding exactly what conduction means, we can identify it in some of the simple things we do. For instance, think of a pot placed on the stove, on a hot burner. The burner and the bottom of the pot are obviously touching, therefore the pot begins to heat up and get hot as well. As physical contact is the key element in heat transfer through conduction, we can see how important a role it plays in this situation. Now, say that your food is done, you turn the burner off and grab the handle of the pot, only to find that it is extremely hot as well. Again, we can thank conduction for this- as the heat was transferred through the bottom of the pot to the handle. Another example of conduction can be seen through ironing. We plug in and heat up the iron prior to placing it on the clothing in which we wish to smooth out. Once the iron has heated up, we place it on top of the article of clothing and it then heats up the clothing as well. Again, physical contact between the iron and the shirt show us that conduction plays the role of heat transfer in this scenario too. For a final example of heat transfer through conduction, let’s imagine a child, playing outside in the snow on a rather cold day. Once outside for a bit, he is freezing and decides to come inside. He takes off his snow gear, cuddles up to his father and begins to warm up

Radiate, by definition, means to send or spread out, and this is important to know when thinking about how exactly radiation occurs. We already discussed a child coming in from playing out in the snow, snuggling up to their father and getting warm through heat transfer by conduction- physical contact. Now, let’s say that the child comes inside from out in the cold, takes off their snow gear and places their hands over a hot fire instead. The child’s hands will warm up through the transfer of heat energy through radiation. Another example, which can be seen every day that you walk outside and the sun is shining bright- is the heat received on Earth by the sun, through the means of radiation. The Earth receives heat through the electromagnetic waves, and our bodies feel the warmth of the sun from these waves that are absorbed within our skin. Radiation is the only means by which heat energy can transfer through the empty space between Earth and the sun- neither conduction or convection have the ability to play a role in this area and therefore, we can see how truly important radiation is. Another interesting fact in regards to radiation is that “because more heat is radiated at higher temperatures, a temperature change is accompanied by a color change. For example, an electrical element on a stove glows from red to orange, while the