A module on temperature and heat transfer.

Coverage includes heat transfer, conservation and conversion of energy, thermometry (including use of the thermocouple), thermal equilibrium, and thermal transients. Electronic properties of power transistors are not considered. Prerequisites include temperature scales and simple current electricity. The module could be used to complement either THE PRESSURE COOKER or THE TOASTER to provide a broad coverage of thermodynamics.

Part of the Physics of Technology program, a 27-module introduction to physics at a pre-calculus level. The American Institute of Physics coordinated this program in the 1970s, with modules created by Florissant Valley Community College, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, the State University of New York at Binghamton, and TERC.

From the Instructor’s Manual:

The general aim of this module is to produce an awareness of the importance of temperature and heat flow in the behavior of practical devices and systems. This involves a knowledge of how to measure both temperature and thermal power under diverse conditions, as well as an understanding the basic parameters such as heat capacity and thermal resistance which are used to describe a thermal system. The distinction between steady-state and transient behavior is emphasized and explored, and the simple laws governing growth or decay in an exponential process are revealed. The various heat transfer mechanisms (conduction, convection, radiation) are examined and discussed in considerable depth.

SPECIAL PREREQUISITES

This module requires that the student be familiar with Ohm's law and with some basic concepts relating to electricity and temperature measurement.