07 April 2015

Heat Flow
Abstract: The power and resistance relationship is determined from
readings of voltage and current. From the relationship between power and
resistance the initial resistance is determined from the linear graph, initial
resistance is determined to be R0=1.679 0.003 for the intercept of the
graph. The average temperature coefficient of resistivity for tungsten is
determined to be
theoretical value of

=0.006 0.00014 K1
=0.0045

which corresponds well to the

at a room temperature of 20

. From

the graph of log(H) vs. log(T) for lower temperature a power of

temperature dependency of to 1.251 0,000452 is obtained corresponds
very well to theoretical value of 1.25, from the isolated component of
radiation a temperature a power of temperature dependency of
2,452 0,0286 is obtained which is 61.13% of the theoretical value of 4.

1. Introduction
A body can lose heat (or gain) by conduction, convection and radiation. If
the body is isolated then the heat lose is determined only by convection
and radiation. It is impossible the separate the contributions of convection
and radiation heat lose for an object such as a light bulb, in the
experiment the rate of the total heat loss is measured over a wide
temperature range. The individual contributions are then extracted from
the different temperature regions.

1.1 Theory
Heat energy transferred between a surface and a moving fluid at different
temperatures is known as convection1. The rate at which heat is
transferred due to convection is given by
H k=

d Qk
=h . A . T
dt

(1)
Where

is the convective heat transfer coefficient,

5

transfer area2 of the surface ( A=3 10 m

) and

is the heat

is the temperature

difference between the surface and the moving fluid.

The convective heat transfer coefficient is dependent on temperature but

1

the light bulb is assumed to be a cylindrical shape, therefore

h T 4

for

cylinder thus
1

h=k T 4
(2)
Where k is the proportionality constant but since temperature is a small
value from the exponent k is therefore assumed to be 1 thus k 1
Therefore
5

H k =k . A . T 4
5

H k =K 1 . T 4
(3)

Any blackbody heated to a given temperature will emit thermal radiation

(in this experiment the tungsten filament will emit thermal). The rate at
which heat is transferred through radiation is given by
H s=

d Qs
=e . A . T 4
dt

(4)
Where

is the emissivity coefficient2 (for blackbody e 1 ),

8 W
Stefan-Boltzmann constant ( =5.67 10 m2 K 4 ). Since

is the

is a constant

H s=K 2 . T 4
H s=K 2 T 4K 2 T 04
(5)

Where

is the temperature of the tungsten filament,

temperature of the cooler surroundings and

K2

T0

is the

is constant that depends

on the tungsten filament setup.

The total heat transfer rate is therefore
5
4

H=K 1 (T T 0) + K 2 T 4 K 2 T 04
(6)
T04

Above 800 K the contribution of

is about 1% and therefore the last

term in the equation 6 is negligible.

By plotting a graph of Log (H) vs. Log ( T T 0 ) a linear relationship at low
temperatures with a slope of

5
4

is observed. Extending the straight line

from the linear relation at low temperatures to higher temperatures and

subtracting it from the measured data the radiation heat transfer
component can be isolated. Slope of this line is an indication of the power
of the temperature term associated for radiation heat1.
The resistance of a material is dependent on the temperature of that
material. This relation is given by
R=R 0 (1+ ( T T 0 ) )
(7)
Where

the average temperature coefficient of resistivity is,

the resistance at

T0

( T0

R0

is

is room temperature)

( )
0

(8)
Where

is the resistivity. Rearrange equation 8 so

is the gradient

therefore

( )= . T
0

(9)
The power formula is used for the intervals of the measurement thus

P=VI
(10)
Where V is the voltage reading in Volts, I is the current reading in Ampere
From Ohms law

V =IR
(11)

1.2 Error analysis

Error is equation 8 is the error in gradient
( )= (m)
(12)
A error margin of

1 V

is taken into account due to fluctuation of the

readings error in R
[ f ]=

f
( A )
A
1
[ R ] = (V )
I

(13)
Error in

R0

is determined from the error in the y intercept of the graph

of resistance against power determined for linear regression3

( R0 ) = (c)

2. Experimental
2.1 Apparatus
1. Voltage [Manson 1-50 V DC 15A]
2. Light bulb [60 W 32V with tungsten filament]
3. Multimeter [major TECH MT 24]
4

4. Rheostat [UOVS 73162]

Figure 1: Experimental setup, before connection were made.

2.2 Procedure
Circuit was constructed as shown in figure 1, the circuit was connected in
series. The variable power source, rheostat, light bulb and ammeter are
connected in series the voltage meter was connected in parallel over the
light bulb. Circuit was switched on, the power supply output was set to 0V
and 0 A. The voltage and current was increased gradually and the power
was calculated with equation 10. To determine R0 very small power
readings were used (0-40 mW), the resistance was determined with
equation 11. The graph of R vs P was plotted and from the intercept R0
was calculate. The

R0

was measured manually with a volt meter to

confirm the experimental value.

Further readings were taken to get an even distribution of data points as
close to the following power values, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 20, 30, 50, 70,
100, 200, 300, 500, 700mW and higher power values 1, 1.4, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10,
14, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, and 60 W. Allow light bulb a few minutes to reach
thermal equilibrium between each measurement for better accuracy.
Resistance was calculated for each reading of power with equation 10.
The
value was determined from the linear plot of table of resistivity

of tungsten at different temperatures,

gradient. The values

was determined from the

was calculated from equation 7.

The H values was calculated from equation 6, The Log (H) and Log ( T )
were calculated and plotted on a graph. The graph contains two sets of
data series each with a different equation for the straight that corresponds
to the lower and higher temperate values. The straight line for the lower
Hk
to higher temperatures are extended and subtracted from the
values to isolate the radiation heat. Thus the Log ( H s ) vs Log ( T )
was plotted and the gradient was observed to correspond to the
theoretical value of 4.

3. Results
Values of voltage and current were measured and power was calculated
with equation 10 and resistance was calculated with equation 11. To
determine resistance of the tungsten filament at room temperature table
1 was plotted and the y intercept was used to determine the value R0 .
Table 1: Calculated values of power and resistance for low power
Resistance (
Voltage (V) Current (A) Power (W)
)
0,119
0,070
0,0083
0,133
0,078
0,0103
0,165
0,096
0,0158
0,214
0,122
0,0261
0,389
0,206
0,0801
0,498
0,249
0,1240
0,779
0,334
0,2602

1,70
1,70
1,72
1,75
1,89
2,00
2,33

2.40
2.30

f(x) = 2.53x + 1.68

R = 1

2.20
2.10
2.00

Resistance ()

1.90
1.80
1.70
1.60
1.50
0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

Power (W)

Figure 2: Linear plot of calculated values of R and P, for low power

readings the y intercept is equal to R0
To determine error in

R0

the LINEST function was used, error in intercept

is the error in R0 .
Table 2: LINEST function of figure 2 to determine error in
intercept
m

( m)

2,528

1,679

0,027

0,003

The resistance at
R0=1.679 0.003 .
To determine

room

( c)

temperature

was

determined

to

be

the average temperature coefficient of resistivity was

determined from table 3 with equation 8

Temperature(
K)
/0
293.15
300.15
500.15
700.15
900.15
1000.15
1273.15
1500.15
1773.15
1800.15
2273.15
2773.15
3273.15

1.00
1.02
1.82
2.73
3.82
4.91
6.00
7.27
8.73
9.27
12.00
15.27
19.09

Table 2: Resistivity ratios at different

temperatures

25.00
20.00
f(x) = 0.01x - 1.35
R = 0.99

15.00

Resistivity (uOhm.cm)

10.00
5.00
0.00

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Temperature (K)

Fi
gure 3: Linear plot of table 2, to determine

from the

gradient
Figure 3: Linear plot of table 3, from equation 8 the gradient of the
function was used to determine , the error in was determined for
the error is the gradient. LINESET was used to determine the error is
gradient. The value of average temperature coefficient of resistivity was
determined to be

The value of

1
=0.006 0.00014 K
.

was determined from equation 7

Table 3: Calculated

for low power values

R(

)
1,70

T (K)
1,91

1,70

1,92

1,72

3,61

1,75

7,11

1,89

20,66

2,00

31,88

2,33

65,02

Table 4: Calculated
R( )
2,35

T (K)
68,45

2,42

75,10

2,41

73,72

2,49

82,36

3,52

184,79

3,46

179,62

3,66

198,96

3,77

210,35

4,36

269,06

5,06

339,65

5,75

408,81

6,72

505,41

8,32

665,73

9,49

782,91

10,43

877,21

11,82

1016,34

12,96

1130,57

14,02

1236,74

14,86

1320,52

16,45

1480,38

for high power values

The total heat transfer was calculated from equation 6. Total heat transfer
was calculated for both the low and high power values.
Table 5: Calculated values of total heat transfer rate, from
convection and radiation only of low power
9

Temperature (K)
1,909

Total heat transfer

(W)
0,013

1,924

0,014

3,607

0,030

7,112

0,069

20,661

0,264

31,883

0,453

65,015

1,105

Table 5: Calculated values of total heat transfer rate, from

convection and radiation only of high power

Temperature (K)

Total heat transfer

(W)

68,445

1,178

75,101

1,323

73,724

1,293

82,364

1,485

184,789

4,077

179,617

3,935

198,964

4,471

210,350

4,793

269,060

6,521

339,646

8,725

10

408,806

10,999

505,410

14,339

665,728

20,234

782,913

24,781

877,208

28,566

1016,344

34,338

1130,573

39,228

1236,742

43,885

1320,523

47,632

1342,354

48,619

Table 6: Log of

and H for low power

log

0,281
0,284
0,557
0,852
1,315
1,504

log H
-1,872
-1,868
-1,527
-1,158
-0,579
-0,343
11

1,813

0,046

Table 7: Log of

and H for high power

log

1,835
1,876
1,868
1,916
2,267
2,254
2,299
2,323
2,430
2,531
2,612
2,704
2,823
2,894
2,943
3,007
3,053
3,092
3,121
3,128

log H
0,074
0,125
0,115
0,176
0,651
0,632
0,699
0,737
0,919
1,122
1,311
1,562
1,939
2,183
2,361
2,598
2,773
2,923
3,033
3,061

4.000
3.000
f(x) = 2.31x - 4.44
R = 0.96

2.000

High power
Linear (High power)
Linear (High power)

1.000

Log H

Linear (High power)

0.000
f(x) = 1.000
1.25x -1.500
2.22 2.000 2.500 3.000 3.500
0.000 0.500
R = 1
-1.000

Linear (High power)

-2.000

Linear (Low power)

Low power
Linear (Low power)
Linear (Low power)

-3.000

Log

12

Figure 4: Linear plot of the natural logarithm of the total heat

transfer and change in temperate. The high power and low power
values are both plotted on the same axis
From figure 4 the heat for the lower power is convection because the
power is too low for the light bulb to radiate any heat but for the higher
power series convection and radiation cannot be separated. The high
temperature series where radiation and convection are not separable thus
the radiation component must isolated but not separated. The power of
temperature dependency for the convection was determined to be
m=1.251 0,000452 .
The equation of the low temperature was used to calculate the theoretical
values in the higher temperature region. The measured values was then
subtracted for the theoretical values and tabulated these values are the
isolated component of radiation. Thus log H=1.251 x2.2236 must be used
to calculate the theoretical values from the low temperatures to high
x
T
temperatures,
values used were the log
of the high
temperatures.

Table 8: Calculated heat transfer

temperatures and calculated isolated
log H low
temperature

log T
2,823
2,894
2,943
3,007
3,053
3,092
3,121
3,128

of

the

theoretical

log H high
temperature
1,308
1,396
1,458
1,538
1,596
1,645
1,680
1,689

Log
1,939
2,183
2,361
2,598
2,773
2,923
3,033
3,061

high

Hs
0,631
0,786
0,902
1,060
1,177
1,278
1,353
1,371

13

1.6
1.4
f(x) = 2.45x - 6.31
R = 1

1.2
1

Log Hs 0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
2.8

2.85

2.9

2.95

3.05

3.1

3.15

Log T

Figure 5: Isolated component of radiation of the light bulb at high

power output, most of the heat transfer was from radiation at
higher power values.
Error in power of the temperature dependency is the error in gradient thus
LINEST function was used to obtain error
Table 9: LINEST function of figure 5 to determine error
m

( m)

2,4525923
0,0286935

-6,30675
0,086353

(c)

The error in gradient was determined to be (m) =

0 , 0286 thus the

power of the temperature dependency was determined to be

m=2,452 0,0286 . The value does correspond to the theoretical value of 4,
errors may have been caused by the apparatus not yielding accurate
results from over use. Additional errors may had been from not enough
time given for the system to reach equilibrium before the reading was
taken

14

4. Conclusion
The resistance of the tungsten filament at room temperature was
determined to be R0=1.679 0.003 . The average temperature coefficient
of resistivity for tungsten was determined to be
value corresponds well the theoretical value of
temperature of 20

1
=0.006 0.00014 K

=0.0045

at a room

but room temperature was assumed to be higher

thus the value determined was very similar. The power of temperature
1.251 0,000452
dependency for the convection was determined to
compares very well to theoretical value 1.25. The power of temperature
dependency for radiation was determined to be m=2,452 0,0286 which is
61.13% of the theoretical value of 4. The results corresponds very well to the
theory of heat transfer, the results of the experiment predict how heat was
transferred from methods such as convection and radiation.

5. References
(1)

VAN HEERDEN, 2015. FSK 3752 Practical Manual: heat exchange.

Bloemfontein:
Xerox

(2)

Physic Forum -https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/boltzmanconstant-emissivity-and-surface-area-of-a-filament.371578/

(3)

VAN HEERDEN, 2015. FSK 3752 Practical Manual: Regression

analysis. Bloemfontein:
Xerox

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