Heat conduction
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Heat conduction or Thermal conduction is the spontaneous transfer of thermal energy through matter, from a region of higher temperature to a region of lower temperature. It always leads to even out temperature differences.
Heat can also be transferred by Thermal radiation and/or convection, and it is normal that more than one of these processes happen at the same time.
[edit] Background
The law of heat conduction, also known as Fourier's law, means that the rate, in time, of heat transfer through a material is proportional to the negative gradient in the temperature and to the area at right angles, to that gradient, through which the heat is flowing:
where
- Q is the amount of heat transferred,
- t is the time taken,
- k is the materials conductivity. (this generally varies with temperature, but the variation can be small, over a significant range of temperatures, for some common materials.),
- S is the area through which the heat is flowing,
- T is the temperature.
