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In mathematics and physics, the heat equation is a certain partial differential equation. Solutions of the heat equation are sometimes known as caloric functions . The theory of the heat equation was first developed by Joseph Fourier in 1822 for the purpose of modeling how a quantity such as heat diffuses through a given region.
Joule heating (also known as resistive, resistance, or Ohmic heating) is the process by which the passage of an electric current through a conductor produces heat.. Joule's first law (also just Joule's law), also known in countries of the former USSR as the Joule–Lenz law, [1] states that the power of heating generated by an electrical conductor equals the product of its resistance and the ...
The rate of heat flow is the amount of heat that is transferred per unit of time in some material, usually measured in watts (joules per second). Heat is the flow of thermal energy driven by thermal non-equilibrium, so the term 'heat flow' is a redundancy (i.e. a pleonasm). Heat must not be confused with stored thermal energy, and moving a hot ...
Quantity (common name/s) (Common) symbol/s Defining equation SI unit Dimension Temperature gradient: No standard symbol K⋅m −1: ΘL −1: Thermal conduction rate, thermal current, thermal/heat flux, thermal power transfer
The molar heat capacity is the heat capacity per unit amount (SI unit: mole) of a pure substance, and the specific heat capacity, often called simply specific heat, is the heat capacity per unit mass of a material. Heat capacity is a physical property of a substance, which means that it depends on the state and properties of the substance under ...
Heat generated by living organisms may also be measured by direct calorimetry, in which the entire organism is placed inside the calorimeter for the measurement. A widely used modern instrument is the differential scanning calorimeter, a device which allows thermal data to be obtained on small amounts of material. It involves heating the sample ...
Thermal conduction is the diffusion of thermal energy (heat) within one material or between materials in contact. The higher temperature object has molecules with more kinetic energy; collisions between molecules distributes this kinetic energy until an object has the same kinetic energy throughout.
Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, had observed the frictional heat generated by boring cannon at the arsenal in Munich, Bavaria, circa 1797 Rumford immersed a cannon barrel in water and arranged for a specially blunted boring tool. He showed that the water could be boiled within roughly two and a half hours and that the supply of frictional ...