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Introduction

The modern concept of heat as a form of energy and the conservation of energy principle arose in the 19th century. In the 18th century, scientists entertained two views of heat. One envisioned heat as a fluid called "caloric" which could flow from one body to another. An alternative view maintained that all basic physical phenomena such as heat, light, electricity, magnetism, chemical action had an explanation rooted in mechanics. Eventually scientists realized that heat, energy and work were related and that there is a conservation of energy principle.

There are three distinct methods of transfer of heat: radiation, convection and conduction. The first two methods will not concern us here (except when involved in a boundary condition). For further information about them, the reader is referred to books on heat transfer such as that of F.P. Incroprera and D.P. Dewitt.

We apply the term conduction to the transmission of heat through a material medium from one region to a colder region.



Here is a demonstration.

In this module, we study heat conduction in two simple geometries. In particular, we shall focus on the relation between the gradient of a temperature distribution and the direction and magnitude of the resulting heat flow.

 
 
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