Heat

Heat as a Form of
Energy

Heat as a form of energy .

Heat can make things hot
and we can use heat to
do work.

We feel hot when the Sun

shines. This shows that
the Sun is a source of
heat energy and gives out
heat. Most of the heat on
the Earth comes from the
Sun.

Other Sources of
Heat
Apart from the Sun, there are many
other sources of heat. Heat can be
produced in many ways.
Here are some activities to show
possible heat sources.

Heat sources
Rubbing or frictionrubbing two objects
against each other can
produce heat.

Activities
Rub your hands
together for some
time and then hold
them to your cheeks.
Your cheeks will feel
warm, showing that
heat can be produced
by friction.

Rubbing hands can produce heat

 Burning- when an Burn a candle or a piece

object burns, it
of paper and put your
produce a flame hands above it. Your hands
that gives out
will feel hot, showing that
heat.
burning substances can
produce heat.

Burning substances can

produce heat

 Electricity when
Switch on the electric
electric current
bulb for some time and
flows through a
place your hands near the
wire, heat is
bulb. Your hands can feel
produced.
the heat coming out from
the bulb.

Electricity can produce heat

 Heat can also be produced by:

a. Bending metal- bending a coat
hanger or a wire back and forth
several times can produce heat in
the object.
b. Chemical reaction after mixing
solid sodium hydroxide with water in
a test tube, the test tube will get
warm.
c. Collision when an iron nail is hit by
a hammer several times, the
hammer and the nail will get hot.

Bending Metal

Chemical Reaction

Collision

Use of Heat in our

Daily Life
Heat is a useful form of energy.
We use heat to:
a.
b.
c.
d.

Cooking food
Drying clothes
Boiling water
Producing steam to generate
electricity
e. Food drying for reservation
f. Providing warmth

Heat and
Temperature

Heat is a form of energy. An object becomes

hot when it absorbs heat. Heat is measured
in Joules (J).
Temperature measures how hot or cold an
object is. The unit of temperature is degree
Celsius ( C) or Kelvin (K). Temperature can
be measured with a thermometer.
Heat and temperature are different.
The table below shows the differences

Differences between heat and

temperature
Heat

Temperature

A form of energy

The degree of hotness or

coldness of a body

Heat can do work

Temperature cannot do work

Measured in Joule (J)

Measured in degree Celsius (C)

or Kelvin (K)

Transfer from a hot area to a cold

area.

Increases when heated and

decreases when cooled

Common
mistakes
Objects with the
same temperature
contain the same
amount of heat.
The higher the
temperature of an
object, the larger
the amount of
heat contained in
it.

The truth
The amount of
heat contained in
an object depends
on
a. The type of the
material that the
object is made
of.
b. The mass or the
size of the
objects, and
c. The temperature

Heat
Flow
Heat only travels from a hotter object
(or place) to a cooler object (or place)
Heat has several interesting ways of
travelling:
It travel by three ways:
a. By conduction through solids
b. By convection through liquids or
gases
c. By radiation through vacuum

Conduction
The flow of heat energy through solids such
as metals is called conduction.
Heat energy uses molecules to help it to
get around.
For example, when a pan is heated, the
molecules at the bottom of the pan start to
vibrate energetically. They collide with their
neighboring molecules and cause them to
vibrate faster. The passing of the heat
energy from one molecule to the next
continues. In this way, heat energy travels

Convecti
on
Heat can flow through a liquid or a gas
because heated parts of the liquid gas
move.
Warm air rising above a heater is an
example.
The flow of heat that occurs when a
warm liquid or gas moves is known as
convection.

Radiati
on

The process where heat energy travels

through an empty space or a vacuum is
known as radiation.
An example of radiation is the transfer of
heat from the Sun to the Earth through
mostly empty space. Such a transfer
cannot occur via convection or
conduction, which requires the movement
of material from one place to another, or
the collisions of molecules within a

Heat Flow in Natural

Phenomena

Some natural phenomena occur as a

result of heat flow.
Warming of the earth by the Sun
a. The Sun gives solar energy every
day. During the day, the Earths
surface is warmed up and during
the night, this energy is radiated
back into space as radiant heat
energy.

b. A fraction of the solar energy that

reaches the Earth is absorbed, causing
evaporation of water from the oceans,
the lakes, the lands and plants.
Convection current carries the water
vapour up to the atmosphere to form
clouds, which will form rains and
thunderstorms
c. The warming of the Earth by the Sun
can cause changes in the climatic
conditions of the Earth and many
natural phenomena such as land ad sea
breezes, thunderstorms, hurricanes and

 Land and Sea

Breezes

a. The unequal heating or air over land

and water will result in breezes near
the shores.
b. During the day, both land and sea are
heated by the Sun. However, the land
gets heated up faster than the sea.
The air above the land surface heats
up, expands and rises. It is lighter than
the surroundings air. To replace the
rising air, cooler air is drawn in from
the surface of the sea. This is the sea

The phenomena of a sea

breeze

c. At night, the land cools faster than the

sea. When this happens, the air over the
warmer surface of sea heats up and rises,
pulling in air from the cooler land surface
to replace it. This is the Land breeze.

The phenomena of land

breeze

Keeping Building
Cool
A building
can be kept cool by having a
good ventilation system, so that air
circulation in the building is ongoing. Hot
air from the building flows out from the
top and cool air can flow in from the
bottom.
Most of the traditional houses are built
with ventilation holes at the base of the
house and at the top near the roof. Hot air
inside the house will rise and flow out
through the ventilation holes at the roof.
Cool air will enter through the openings at

 In modern buildings, the ventilation system

is made more effective by installing
exhaust fans and extractor fans. Hot and
humid air can be sucked out and replaced
with fresh and cool air.
Modern houses are equipped with fans and
air conditioners to make the house cooler.
Modern buildings use centralized air
conditioning system to cool the whole
buildings.
Insulation can also help to keep a building
cool. Buildings with loft insulation,
insulating cavity walls or double gazed

Heat conductors and heat

insulators
When material allow heat to pass through
them rapidly, they are known as
conductors. All metals are good
conductors of heat compared with other
materials.
Other materials like- metals, liquids and
gases that do not allow heat to pass
through easily are known as bad
conductors of heat or insulators.

Examples of heat conductors and

insulators
Conductors
Mercury (liquid)
Silver

Insulators
Glass
Air

Copper
Aluminum
Zinc
Iron

Water (liquid)
Plastics
Rubber
Wood

Lead

Materials containing trapped air

( wool, plastic foam, expanded
polystyrene)

Uses of heat conductors

Examples of the uses of heat conductors in
daily life.
Materials/ devises
Cooking utensils
Insert image
kettle

Uses
Cooking utensils such as
saucepans, pots and kettles are
usually made of aluminum or
stainless steel.
They conduct heat quickly and
easily to the food as thus save
fuels.

Electrical appliances
Insert image
iron

Others

Electrical irons and hot plates

are made of iron or stainless
steel that conducts heat well.
Heat sinks that are used in
computers, disk drives and
televisions as cooling fins are
made of aluminum

Insert image

Radiator coils and cooling fins

behind the refrigerator are made of
copper.

Soldering iron rods

Soldering iron rods are made of

iron with copper tips.

Uses of heat insulators

Insulators are used in many applications where
we want to minimize heat flow or heat loss.
Materials/ devices
Wood or plastics

Uses
Handles for cooking utensils, kettles,
teapots, soldering iron rods and so on.
They protect our hands from the hot
surfaces.

Cork, asbestos sheets, tiles To prevent tabletops from being

damages by hot kitchenware or
objects.
Sawdust

To cover ice blocks to slow down the

melting process.

Woolen blanket or cloth

Used to keep the body warm on cold

days. The woolen blanket and the air
layer trapped inside can prevent heat
loss from the body.

Fiberglass, expanded
polystyrene foam

Used as insulators in the walls of ice

boxes and refrigerators. Air trapped
inside acts as insulator.

insulating cavity wall,

double- glazed glass

Used in the buildings to prevent heat

from entering by conduction during

Aluminum

Plastics the day and prevent heat loss at

night.

Benefits of heat flows

There are many uses of heat
flow in our daily life:
a. The flow of heat through
conduction is used for
cooking and boiling.
Conduction of heat is also
applied in electric irons,
ovens and toasters.
b. The flow of heat by
convection and radiation
is used to dry wet
clothes, salted fish and

Drying wet
clothes

c. Heat flow through radiation gives us hot

water when we use a solar heater to absorb
heat from the Sun.
d. Convection currents can help to improve
air circulation and cool our houses and
buildings. Fans and air conditioners help to
cool the surrounding air through convection
currents

Air conditioner.

e. Our life can be made healthier and more

comfortable with a good ventilation system
in our houses. Windows, opening and
exhaust fans are things that can help to
improve the ventilation of air in a house.
Warm air inside the house can be drawn out
and replaced with fresh, cool air from the
outside.

Ventilation of buildings