Heat Transfer

Abstract

As was indicated in Chapter 4, in the subject of classical, or equilibrium, thermodynamics, the term heat is used to describe an energy transfer between a system and its surroundings arising solely from a difference in temperature between the system and its surroundings. Therefore, heat transfer occurs only across the boundaries of systems. Any energy transfer that takes place within a system as a result of temperature gradients within the system is a redistribution of internal energy. Further, thermodynamics, despite its name, has no time-scale and says nothing about the rate at which energy transfers take place. This study is the province of heat transfer processes, in which the rate of energy transfer is related to appropriate physical parameters.