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Calorimetry is the empirical basis of the idea of quantity of heat transferred in a process. The transferred heat is measured by changes in a body of known properties, for example, temperature rise, change in volume or length, or phase change, such as melting of ice. [69] [70]
If heat capacity is measured for a well-defined amount of substance, the specific heat is the measure of the heat required to increase the temperature of such a unit quantity by one unit of temperature. For example, raising the temperature of water by one kelvin (equal to one degree Celsius) requires 4186 joules per kilogram (J/kg).
If the system is divided by a wall that is permeable to heat or to matter, the temperature of each subsystem is identical. Additionally, the boiling temperature of a substance is an intensive property. For example, the boiling temperature of water is 100 °C at a pressure of one atmosphere, regardless of the quantity of water remaining as liquid.
Since heat density is proportional to temperature in a homogeneous medium, the heat equation is still obeyed in the new units. Suppose that a body obeys the heat equation and, in addition, generates its own heat per unit volume (e.g., in watts/litre - W/L) at a rate given by a known function q varying in space and time. [5]
For example, the heat required to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by 1 K is 4184 joules, so the specific heat capacity of water is 4184 J⋅kg −1 ⋅K −1. [3] Specific heat capacity often varies with temperature, and is different for each state of matter.
Another example involving thermochemical equations is that when methane gas is combusted, heat is released, making the reaction exothermic. In the process, 890.4 kJ of heat is released per mole of reactants, so the heat is written as a product of the reaction.
Understanding this is perhaps a "thought experiment" in chemical kinetics, but actual examples exist. A gas-phase reaction at constant temperature and pressure which results in an increase in the number of molecules will lead to an increase in volume. Inside a cylinder closed with a piston, it can proceed only by doing work on the piston.
The second law of thermodynamics is a physical law based on universal empirical observation concerning heat and energy interconversions.A simple statement of the law is that heat always flows spontaneously from hotter to colder regions of matter (or 'downhill' in terms of the temperature gradient).