1.

Temperature And Thermal EQUILIBRIUM

A goodway to begin studying thermal physics is by understanding the concept of heat and temperature.
The difference between heat and temperature is a common subject of discussion but,if you have to
state what each word really means,you would find your self at a loss.Thermal energy is a form of kinetic
energy characterized by randomness of motion at the atomic and molecular level.It is essential to the
concepts of temperature and heat. Temperature and heat are related but they are not the same.
Temperature is the measure of hotness or coldness of a body.Heat, on the other hand,is the energy that
transfers from a body of higher temperature to another body of lower temperature.Heat is the quantity
of thermal energy absorbed of given off by a body.

Thermal Equilibrium it is observed that a higher temperature object which is in contact with a lower
temperature object will transfer heat to the lower temperature object. The objects will approach the
same temperature,and in the absence of loss to other objects,they will then maintain a constant
temperature.They are then. said to. be in thermal equilibrium. Thermal Equilibrium is the subject of the
Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics.

2. Temperature Scales And THERMOMETERS

3. Gas Thermometers AND Kelvin SCALE

A thermometer is any thermal sensor that measures temperature. A thermal sensor is any material that
has a thermometric property,or that property which changes with temperature. The lines on a
thermometer are called calibrations. A thermometer maybe calibrated in Fahrenheit, Celsius or
Kelvinscale. There are different kinds of thermometers. Four are described in this presentation, namely;
liquid-in-glass, rotary, thermocouple, and liquid crystal thermometers. The most common thermometer
is the liquid-in-glass thermometer. It is made of a glass tube with a bulb on one end.The glass bulb
contais a liquid(Mercury or alcohol) that expands and rises up the narrow tube as the temperature
increases. When the temperature decreases,the liquid contracts and falls.
Another kind of thermometer is the rotary thermometer. It consists of a coiled bimetallic strip. A
bimetallic strip is made up of two strips of metal,each of a different kind, joined together.Usually, one
strip is brass and the other is iron. These metals expand at different rates when heated and the heat
causes the bimetallic strip to bend. One end of the strip is fixed while, the other end is attached to a
pointer. As the temperature increases, the strip coils up more and the pointermovesarounda scale.

Thethermocouplethermometerisanother kind of thermometer. It is an electronic thermometer which

operates under the principle of measuring changes in electric signals. It consists of two wires of different
metals joined togetherattheendstoformtwojunctions,anda display (usually in numbers) that shows the
temperature.Onejunctionisputincontactwitha body for measuring temperature. The other junction is
put in melting ice. The electric current that varies directly withthetemperaturedifferencebetween the
two junctions is measured by a sensitive ammeter in the circuit.Thermo couple thermometers are very
sensitive and commonly used in industry to measure the temperature of ovens and furnaces.

A liquid crystal thermometer consists of a strip of liquid crystals that changes color with temperature.
Although it is not very accurate, a liquid crystal thermometer is very convenient to use, particularly with
young children as a forehead fever thermometer and for measuring the temperature of fishtanks.

Temperature Scales

The three common scales for measuring temperature are the Fahrenheit, Celsius and Kelvinscales.

IntheFahrenheitscale, thenumber32 isassignedtothetemperatureatwhich water freezes and the number

212 is assigned to the temperature at which water boils. The interval between these two temperatures
is divided into four 180 equal intervals called degrees Fahrenheit (°F).

In the Celsius scale,the number O is assigned to the temperature at which water freezes and the number
100 is assigned to the temperature at which water boils. The interval between these two temperatures
is divided into 100 equal intervals called degrees Celsius (°C).

In the Kelvin scale, the intervals are the same size as those on the Celsius scale, and are called kelvins
(K). Any temperature on the Kelvin scale can be changed into Celsius by adding 27 to it. So the freezing
point of water on the Kelvin scale is 273K and the boiling point is 373 K.
Experiments have led scientists to conclude that there is a lower limit to temperatures. The lowest
possible temperature on the Kelvin scalle is zrro kelvin. This is equivalent to-273°C.This is called the
absolute zero where no more energy can be removed from matter.

To change readings from one scale to other, you can apply relations from the proportion of the three
scales shown side by side.

4. THERMALEXPANSION

Almostallmaterialsexpandwhenheated andcontractwhencooled.Thekinetictheoryof matter explains how

thermal expansion and contraction occurs.

EXPANSION OF MATERIALS

Have you ever experienced the difficulty of opening a tight bottle cap? You probably know that you can
easily open it by putting it in hot water. This works because the metal cap expands a little. As the
thermal lenergy of a substance increases,its particles spread out and thse substance expands. This is
known as thermal expansion.

Almost all materials take up more space when heated and less space when cooled.The increase in size of
s material is called expansion. The decrease in size is known as contraction. Somethings expand more
than the others when heated.
Notice that steel and concrete has almost the same expansion rate. This is the reason why steel rods are
used to reinforce concrete;the steel rods will not make the concrete crack on a hot day.

Expansion and contraction cause problems in structures such as buildings, High ways and sidewalks. On
a hotday, concrete runway sections expand and can cause cracking. To avoid this problem, small gaps
between sections are filled with squashy bitumen, in the same manner that gaps between sections of
highways are filled with tar.

On a cold day, telephone wires and electric wires contract. This could tighten the wires and snap them.
In summer, the wires expand and sag.To prevent such problems,wires are left slack when hung between
poles so that they are free to change length.

Long steel bridges often have only one end attached, while the other end rests on devices called rollers.
This allows the bridge to expand in hot weather with out danger of buckling.
Some bridges are designed with toothlike seams called expansion joints that move together as the
bridge expands in hot weather.

Like all liquids, water contracts when cooled. But for water this is true only for temperatures above 4 °C.
Below this temperature, water expands until it freezes at 0°C. Therefore, the maximum density of water
is at 4°C. This makes ice less dens than water, so it floats on water. This means that the warmer water
stays at the bottom when the surface of bodies of water is frozen solid during freezing weather. This
keeps marine plants and animals alive.

5. QUANTITY OFHEAT

At the beach,.you would notice that the sand is hot and the water is cold even when both are exposed
to the same hot summer sun. This happens because water needs to absorb more. heat to raise its

temperature than sand does. In other words, sand heats up faster than water. Different materials need
different amounts of heat to change their temperature by the same amount. The amount of energy
required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of a substance by one kelvin is called its specific heat.
The unit of measure for specific heat is joules per kilogram-kelvin (J/kg●K). The SI unit is joules per
kilogram-kelvin(J/kg●°C). Another unit of measure of specific heat is calorie per gram degree
Celsius (cal/g●°C), where 1cal=4.186J. Specific heat capacities vary widely from one substance to
another and from on range of temperatures to another.

The amount of heat required to raise its temperature by one degree is known as heat capacity or
thermal lcapacity of a substance. It is the product of the mass of the substance and its specific heat.

The transfer of heat from an object depends on the object’s mass, the specific heat and the difference in
temperature between the object and its surroundings.

∆Q = mC∆T
Where:

∆Q=amount of heat tansferred

m =mass

C = specific heat

∆T = change intemperature

The heat lost by one object equal the heat gained by another object.

Heat lost=Heatgained

mC∆Tlost=mC∆Tgained

6. HEAT Transfer MECHANISMS

A goodway to begin studying thermal physicsis by understanding the concept of heat and temperature.
The difference between heat and temperature is a common subject of discussion but, if you have to
state what each word really means, you would find yourself at a loss.

Heat TRANSFER

The study of heat flow with in an object and from one object to another due to differences in
temperature is known as heat at transfer. The rate of transfer is determined by the properties of
materials, differences in temperature and experimentally verified laws of nature.

RADIATION, CONDUCTION And CONVECTION

Heat flows from warmer objects to cooler objects. If several objects at different temperatures are placed
near one another, those that are warm become cooler and those that are cool become warmer.

The transfer of heat continues until all objects have a common temperature.

Transmission of heat to equalize the temperature is brought about in three ways---radiation,conduction

and convection.

Radiation- if you sit near a bonfire, you would feel the heat coming from the fire through radiation. In
radiation, heat energy travels as electromagnetic waves in the same manner and speed of light.
Radiation can transfer heat from a source to another object even if there is a vacuum between them.
This is how heat from the sun travels through empty space and warms the earth.

When something is hot,like the fire in a bonfire, it releases some of its energy in the form of
electromagnetic waves. The waves travel through rough space until they hit something. These waves
heat up things that absorbed them.This is why you can feel the heat from the bonfire even if your hand
is not actually touching it. The bonfire literally ‘radiates’ heat.
Conduction-Have you ever left a spoon in a bowl of hot soup and found the spoon too hot to hold? This
occurs because the heat from the soup is transferred to the spoon by conduction. In conduction, heat
energy travels when two objects at different temperatures are in direct contact with each other. During
conduction, vibrations atoms or molecules excite the atoms or molecules next to them.

Conduction mainly occurs in solid objects. But it can also happen when materials come into contact, like
when warm air is in contact with your skin. Some materials are better conductors of heat than others. In
cooking,a wooden spatula does not get as warm as metal spoon. For the same reason,cookware handles
are coated with rubber or hard plastic.

Convection- This will allow the cold air from the outside to push the warm air inside by means of
convection. In convection, the heat in fluids is transferred to cooler regions by currents.

These currents are caused by warmer and less dense‘ pockets’off fluid rising in cooler and more dense
surroundings.It follows Archimedes’ principle, which states that less dense materials float on denser
materials. Here,the cooler fluid move to the bottom, heats up and rises again, forming a cycle.

This cyclic movement of fluids is responsible for the production of winds in our atmosphere. Convection
is also the phenomenon behind modern-heating systems.

Radiation from the sun heats the ground, the ground heats the air by conduction and the air rises as a
haze (a suspension of solid particles of dust and smoke) and heats the air above by convection.