Contents

Exercise A - Steady-State Heat Conduction..................................................................1

OBJECTIVE..............................................................................................................1
METHOD...................................................................................................................1
THEORY....................................................................................................................1
APPARATUS/EQUIPMENT.....................................................................................2
PROCEDURE............................................................................................................3
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS..............................................................................3
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................7
REFERENCE.............................................................................................................7
Exercise B The Fourier Rate Equation.......................................................................8
OBJECTIVE..............................................................................................................8
METHOD...................................................................................................................8
THEORY....................................................................................................................8
APPARATUS/EQUIPMENT...................................................................................10
PROCEDURE..........................................................................................................12
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS............................................................................12
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................18
REFERENCE...........................................................................................................18

HT11 Issue 11: Linear Heat Conduction

Exercise A - Steady-State Heat Conduction
OBJECTIVE
To measure the temperature distribution for steady-state conduction of energy through
a uniform plane wall and demonstrate the effect of a change in heat flow.
METHOD
By measuring the change in temperature with distance resulting from the linear
conduction of heat along a simple bar at different rates of heat flow through the bar.
THEORY
Provided that the heated and cooled sections are clamped tightly together, so that the
two end faces are in good thermal contact, the two sections can be considered to be
one continuous wall of uniform cross section and material.
According to Fouriers law of heat conduction:
If a plane wall of thickness () and area (A) supports a temperature difference then
the heat transfer rate per unit time (Q) by conduction through the wall is found to be:
Q A

T
x

Q=C

T
x

where C is a constant which will be investigated in a later exercise.

The object of this exercise is to show that for a simple plane wall where the material
and cross section are constant:
Q

T
x

T : Change in
temperature
Q

: Heat Flow

: Change in
position

Figure 1: Heat transfer process through conduction.

APPARATUS/EQUIPMENT

Heater

Cold Water
Supply

Thermocouples

HT11 Linear Heat

Conduction Accessory
HT10XC Computer Compatible
Heat Transfer Service Unit
Figure 2: Set-up of Apparatus
2

PROCEDURE
1. The front mains switch is switched on. (The RCD and any circuit breakers at the
rear of the service unit are checked in case the panel meters do not illuminate; all
switches at the rear should be up.)
2. The selector switch is set to MANUAL for manual operation. The cooling water
is turned on and the flow control valve (not the pressure regulator) is adjusted to
give approximately a constant flow rate.
3. The heater voltage is set to 4 volts by adjusting the voltage control potentiometer
to give a reading of 4 volts on the top panel meter with the selector switch set to
position V.
4. The HT11 is allowed to stabilize and the temperatures is monitored using the
lower selector switch/meter.
5. The temperatures are recorded after they are stable. The temperature values are
noted down by hand from the front panel display, using the selector switch to
select each required value from T1 to T8 in turn (except T4 and T5).
6. Steps 3 to 5 are repeated by setting different heater voltages of 7V, 10V and 14V
accordingly. The results are tabulated.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

For this exercise, the distance between each thermocouples are constant as follow:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

Distance between thermocouples T1 and T3, 13 = 0.03m

Distance between thermocouples T6 and T8, 68 = 0.03m
Distance between each thermocouple = 0.015m
Distance between thermocouple T3 or T6 and the end face = 0.0075m

The raw data obtained in this exercise is shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1:

Heater Voltage, V (Volts)

Heater Current, I (Amps)
Heated section of high temperature, T1 (C)
Heated section of mid temperature, T2 (C)
Heated section of low temperature, T3 (C)
Cooled section of high temperature, T6 (C)
Cooled section of mid temperature, T7 (C)
Cooled section of low temperature, T8 (C)

4
0.42
30.8
30.4
30.0
28.8
28.6
28.3

7
0.72
37.6
36.5
35.2
31.2
30.2
29.2

10
1.03
48.2
46.0
43.5
34.8
32.7
30.6

14
1.44
67.1
62.7
58.0
41.4
37.2
33.1

For each set of readings, the derived results are tabulated in Table 2 below.
Table 2:
Heater Voltage
Heater Current
Heat Flow (power to heater)
Temperature difference in heated
section
Temperature difference in cooled
section

V (Volts)
I (Amps)
Q=VI (Watts)
Thot=T1-T3
(C)
Tcold=T6-T8
(C)

4
0.42
1.68

7
0.72
5.04

10
1.03
10.3

14
1.44
20.16

0.8

2.4

4.7

9.1

0.5

4.2

8.3

Comparison between Thot and Tcold in the two sections at the same/different heat
flow:

Graph of Temperature Difference against Heat Flow

10
f(x) = 0.45x + 0.09
f(x) = 0.42x - 0.16

8
6

T (C)

4
2
0

10

15

20

25

Q (Watts)
Thot

Linear (Thot)

Linear (Thot)

Linear (Thot)

Linear (Thot)

Tcold

Linear (Tcold)

From the graph, it can be deduced that T hot is greater than Tcold at the same heat
flow. Meanwhile, Thot and Tcold also increases with the increase of heat flow. When
the heat flow increases, the difference between Thot and Tcold also widens.

Graph of T aginst
80
70
f(x) = - 501.14x + 76.23

60
50

T (C)

f(x) = - 260.19x + 52.96

40

f(x) = - 123.62x + 39.81

f(x) = - 36.38x + 31.39

30
20
10
0
0

0.02

0.03

0.05

0.06

0.08

(m)
Q=1.68Watts

Linear (Q=1.68Watts)

Q=5.04Watts

Linear (Q=5.04Watts)

Q=10.3Watts

Linear (Q=10.3Watts)

Q=20.16Watts

Linear (Q=20.16Watts)

0.09

0.11

From the graph, it can be observed that each temperature profile is a straight line and
the magnitude of the gradient of each profile increases linearly with the increase of
heat flow (Note that the negative sign of the gradient is not significant and being
ignored in analysis because it only indicates that T falls with the increase of ).
The gradients are tabulated in Table 3 corresponding with heat flow.
Table 3:
Q (Watts)

Gradient (C/m)

1.68
5.04
10.3
20.16

36.381
123.62
260.19
501.14

Q
(Watts m/)
Gradient
0.0462
0.0408
0.0396
0.0402

From Table 3, it can be deduced that

Q
Gradient

is a constant, which is

approximately equal to 0.04 Watts m/ .

Experimental Errors and Cumulative Influence on Calculated Values for
a) Heat Flow, Q
The second law of thermodynamics stated that the entropy of an isolated system
always increases over time, which means energy will dissipate or lose during energy
transferring or transformation. This explain why our calculated values for heat flow
(Q=IV) is not the exact power supplied to the heater. The system has encountered loss
of heat energy in energy transfer.
b) Thot and Tcold
Calculation of Thot and Tcold might encounter two errors:
i.

Insufficient Time for HT11 to Stabilize

Due to time constraint to carry out the experiment, we only allocated 10 minutes for
the equipment to stabilize for each heat flow. In fact, 10 minutes is not long enough as
we still observed some fluctuation of the temperature reading at the moment of

recording result. 20-30 minutes will be more appropriate for HT11 to stabilize in
order to obtain a more accurate result.
ii.

Absence of Sensor SFT2 to Control the Cooling Water Flowrate

Without sensor SFT2, we were unable to monitor the flowrate of cooling water during
the experiment. Therefore, the flowrate of cooling water might not be fixed
throughout the experiment as we could hardly monitor the flowrate simply by
controlling the valve.

CONCLUSION
Fouriers law of heat conduction is proven, which for a wall of constant conductivity
and constant cross sectional area, the temperature gradient is directly proportional to
the rate of heat flow. The heat flow through a plane wall will create temperature
T
difference which changes linearly with distance. The equation, Q=C x

is valid.

Thot and Tcold increases linearly with the heat flow. When the heat flow increases,
the gap between Thot and Tcold widens.
The measurement accuracy of the equipment is high and the heat loss from the
equipment is minimal. This can be proven as we managed to get a constant for
Q
Gradient

of each temperature profile, which is approximately equal to 0.04

Watts m/ . It means that the error encountered is very small and hence we can
deduce that the accuracy of the equipment is high,
REFERENCE
J.Moran, M. (2011). Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics. United
States of America: Don Fowley.

Exercise B The Fourier Rate Equation

OBJECTIVE
To understand the use of the Fourier Rate Equation in determining rate of heat flow
through solid materials for one-dimensional steady flow of heat.
METHOD
To demonstrate Fouriers Law for the linear conduction of heat along a simple bar by
measuring the change in temperature with distance at different rates of heat flow
through the bar and using the measurements to calculate the conductivity of the bar.
THEORY
Provided that the heated and cooled sections are clamped tightly together, so that the
two end faces are in good thermal contact, the three sections can be considered to be
one continuous wall of uniform cross section and material.
According to Fouriers law of heat conduction:
If a plane wall of thickness () and area (A) supports a temperature difference then
the heat transfer rate per unit time (Q) by conduction through the wall is found to be:
Q A

T
where x =(x bx a )
x

T : Change in
temperature
Q

: Heat Flow

: Change in
position

If the material of the wall is homogeneous and has a thermal conductivity k (the
constant of proportionality) then:
Q=kA

T
where T =(T aT b)
x

It should be noted that heat flow is positive in the direction of temperature fall hence
the negative sign in the equation.
For convenience the equation can be rearranged to avoid the negative sign as follows:
Q=kA

T
where T =(T aT b )
x

Note: In this exercise the HT11 is configured as a simple plane wall where k and A
are constant therefore the object is to show that the Fourier equation can be used to
relate Q, T and .

APPARATUS/EQUIPMENT

Cold Water
Supply
HT11 Linear Heat
Conduction Accessory
HT10XC Computer Compatible
Heat Transfer Service Unit
Heater

25mm
Brass
Heater

Thermocouples

Figure 3: Set-up of Apparatus

10

Voltage
Display Unit

Voltage
Potentiometer
Current
Display Unit

11

PROCEDURE
1. The front mains switch is switched on. (The RCD and any circuit breakers at the
rear of the service unit are checked in case the panel meters do not illuminate; all
switches at the rear should be up.)
2. The selector switch is set to MANUAL for manual operation. The cooling water
is turned on and the flow control valve (not the pressure regulator) is adjusted to
give approximately a constant flow rate.
3. The heater voltage is set to 4 volts by adjusting the voltage control potentiometer
to give a reading of 4 volts on the top panel meter with the selector switch set to
position V.
4. The HT11 is allowed to stabilize and the temperatures is monitored using the
lower selector switch/meter.
5. The temperatures are recorded after they are stable. The temperature values are
noted down by hand from the front panel display, using the selector switch to
select each required value from T1 to T8 in turn.
6. Steps 3 to 5 are repeated by setting different heater voltages of 7V, 10V and 14V
accordingly. The results are tabulated.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
For this exercise the raw data is tabulated under the following headings in Table 4.

Heater Voltage
Heater Current
Heated section of high temperature
Heated section of mid temperature
Heated section of low temperature
Intermediate section of high
temperature
Intermediate section of low
temperature
Cooled section of high temperature
Cooled section of mid temperature
Cooled section of low temperature

V
(Volts)
I
(Amps)
T1 (C)
T2 (C)
T3 (C)

10

14

0.42
32
31.7
31.1

0.72
38.4
37.3
36

1.03
49
46.8
44.3

1.44
69
64.8
60

T4 (C)

30.2

33.9

40.2

52

T5 (C)
T6 (C)
T7 (C)
T8 (C)

29.6
29.2
28.8
28.5

32.7
30.9
30
29.1

37.8
33.9
32
30.2

47.7
39.8
36
32.4

Table 4:
For this exercise the applicable constants are shown in Table 5 below.
12

Table 5:
Distance between thermocouples T1 and T3, 13 (m)
Distance between thermocouples T4 and T5, 45 (m)
Distance between thermocouples T6 and T8, 68 (m)
Diameter of bar, D (m)
Note: The distance between each thermocouple is 0.015 m. The

0.03
0.015
0.03
0.025
distance between

thermocouple T3, T4, T5 or T6 and the end face is 0.0075 m.

For each set of readings the derived results are tabulated in Table 6 below.
Table 6:
Heater
V (Volts)
Voltage
Heater
I (Amps)
Current
Heat Flow
(Power to
Q=VI (Watts)
heater)
2
CrossD
A=
(m2 )
sectional area
4
of bar
Temperature
difference in
Thot =T1-T3 (C)
heated
section
x13 Q
k hot =
Conductivity
T hot A hot
in heated
section
(W / m )
Temperature
difference in
intermediate
section

Tint =T4-T5 (C)

10

14

0.42

0.72

1.03

1.44

1.68

5.04

10.3

20.16

0.000491

0.000491

0.000491

0.000491

0.9

2.4

4.7

114.0823

128.3425

133.934

136.8987

0.6

1.2

2.4

4.3

85.5617

128.3425

131.1437

143.2661

0.7

1.8

3.7

7.4

A
Conductivity
in
intermediate
section

T
x Q
= 45
k
(W / m )

Temperature
difference in

Tcold =T6-T8
(C)

13

cooled
section
Conductivity
in cooled
section

k cold =

x 68 Q
T cold Acold 146.6772

171.1234

170.1323

166.4984

(W / m )

Comparison between the calculated values for the thermal conductivity of Brass in
the three sections at the same/different heat flows is shown in Table 7.
Table 7:
Q (Watts)
khot (W/mC)
kint (W/mC)
kcold (W/mC)

1.68
114.0823
85.5617
146.6772

5.04
128.3425
128.3425
171.1234

10.3
133.934
131.1437
170.1323

20.16
136.8987
143.2661
166.4984

Graph of Thermal Conductivity against Heat Flow

200
150

k (W/mC) 100
50
0

10

15

20

25

Q (Watts)
khot (W/mC)

Linear (khot (W/mC))

kint (W/mC)

Linear (kint (W/mC))

kcold (W/mC)

Linear (kcold (W/mC))

At the same heat flow, kcold is always the highest as compared to kint and khot. However,
fluctuation is observed between kint and khot. Initially, khot is higher than kint. However
as heat flow increases, kint and khot are almost on par and finally kint has become higher
than khot when the heat flow is the highest.
14

At different heat flow, both k int and khot increases linearly with heat flow. However,
kcold has encountered a fluctuation trend, which it increases at first and drops later.
Although kcold falls slightly as heat flow increases, it is still higher than kint and khot.
Hence, it can be deduced that thermal conductivity of Brass is always the best in
cooled section. For intermediate section and hot section, its thermal conductivity is
dependent on the rate of heat flow. The thermal conductivity in intermediate section is
better when heat flow is high and vice-versa.

Graph of T against
80
70
Q=1.68Watts

Linear (Q=1.68Watts)
f(x) = - 369.13x + 75.13

Q=5.04Watts

60
50
f(x) = - 189.84x + 52.09
40

Q=10.3Watts
f(x) = - 93.73x + 39.86

30

f(x) = - 35.95x + 32.56

Linear (Q=5.04Watts)
T (C)

Linear (Q=10.3Watts)

20
10
Q=20.16Watts

Linear (Q=20.16Watts)

0
0

0.02

0.03

0.05

0.06

0.08

0.09

0.11

0.12

0.14

x (m)

From the graph, it can be observed that each temperature profile is a straight line and
the magnitude of the gradient of each profile increases linearly with the increase of
heat flow (Note: The negative sign is not significant because for convenience in this
exercise, the equation of Fouriers Law of heat conduction has been rearranged).
From Fouriers Equation of heat conduction,
15

Q=kA

T
x

Rearrange the equation to find k,

k=

Q T

A x

where

T
is the gradients of each temperature profile
x

Thus, the gradients are tabulated in Table 8 corresponding with heat flow in order to
calculate thermal conductivity of Brass.
Table 8:
Q (Watts)

A (m2)

Gradient (C/m)

k ( W /m

1.68
5.04
10.3
20.16

0.000491
0.000491
0.000491
0.000491

35.952
93.73
189.84
369.13

95.20
109.54
110.53
111.26

Average conductivity of the brass

( 95.20+ 109.54+110.53+111.26 )
4

106.6 3

W /m

As compared with the values previously obtained for each individual section of the
bar in Table 7, it is noticeable that the average conductivity is very different from the
conductivity of each individual section. The difference between them is getting
greater and greater when the heat flow increases.
Given the real thermal conductivity of Brass should be in the range 110 - 128 W/mC.
Thus, our result, 106.63 W /m

has encountered error and falls out of range.

16

|110106.63
|100 =3.06
110

Percentage Error=

Experimental Errors and Cumulative Influence on Calculated Values for

a) Heat Flow, Q
The second law of thermodynamics stated that the entropy of an isolated system
always increases over time, which means energy will dissipate or lose during energy
transferring or transformation. This explain why our calculated values for heat flow
(Q=IV) is not the exact power supplied to the heater. The system has encountered loss
of heat energy in energy transfer.
b) Thot, Tint and Tcold
Calculation of Thot, Tint and Tcold might encounter two errors:
i.

Insufficient Time for HT11 to Stabilize

Due to time constraint to carry out the experiment, we only allocated 10 minutes for
the equipment to stabilize for each heat flow. In fact, 10 minutes is not long enough as
we still observed some fluctuation of the temperature reading at the moment of
recording result. 20-30 minutes will be more appropriate for HT11 to stabilize in
order to obtain a more accurate result.
ii.

Absence of Sensor SFT2 to Control the Cooling Water Flowrate

Without sensor SFT2, we were unable to monitor the flowrate of cooling water during
the experiment. Therefore, the flowrate of cooling water might not be fixed
throughout the experiment as we could hardly monitor the flowrate simply by
controlling the valve.
c) khot, kint and kcold
The experimental errors in calculating khot, kint and kcold is most probably due to heat
loss from the equipment. The reason is that a small amount of heat loss is inevitable
as the temperature of the bar increases and hence the calculated value for the
conductivity will increase at higher operating temperatures.
17

d) Average Thermal Conductivity of Brass

Minor error (3.06%) of the average thermal conductivity of brass is due to the
cumulative influence of experimental errors on calculated values for Q, T hot, Tint
and Tcold. Moreover, the given range of 110 - 128 W/mC for average thermal
conduCtivity of Brass is based on the assumption that no heat loss from the
equipment. However in actual experiment, heat loss is inevitable as stated by second
law of thermodynamics.

CONCLUSION
The Fourier rate equation,

Q=kA

T
x

is proven and can be used to relate

temperature difference, heat flow and distance in a solid material of constant crosssectional area. The equation can also be used to calculate the constant, which is the
thermal conductivity of a solid material. The temperature gradient increases linearly
with the heat flow.
Although the average thermal conductivity obtained in this exercise does not fulfill
the range of real thermal conductivity of Brass, the measurement accuracy of the
equipment is still high because only 3.06% of percentage error is encountered. In
addition, the error in this exercise is higher than exercise A because the heat loss from
the equipment is higher. This is the factor which contributes the most to our
experiment error in this exercise. The reason is that the presence of brass bar has
increased the heat loss of the equipment.

REFERENCE
J.Moran, M. (2011). Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics. United
States of America: Don Fowley.

18

19