Convection:

The flow of heat through a fluid by the net movement of the fluid ( in convection currents).

Natural
because

convection
of

density

takes

place

changes

that

accompany contraction and expansion

of

the fluid.
When you heat a fluid it expands, this
results in a decrease in the density of

the

heated fluid. The upthrust on the

heated fluid is now greater than the
weight of it so the heated fluid rises.

Cold fluid rush in to replace the rising

fluid creating a convection current.

The convection currents associated with a hot object occurs above the hot surface. The fluid beneath the hot object is
largely undisturbed and does not participate in the movement of heat from the hot body.
The reverse process occurs when a
cold object is placed in a fluid, the
natural

convection

currents

is

limited to flowing below the cold

surface. The early refrigerators, did
not use forced convection, in order
to cool the entire contents of the
fridge, the freezing compartment
was placed at the top of the fridge.
This removed the need to have
cooling pipes in the lower part of
the fridge since the entire lower

compartment is cooled by natural

convection currents.


Forced Convection.
This occurs when the fluid is forced to move to accelerate the rate at which heat is
transferred. When you blow on your tea to cool it you are using forced convection. A fan
employs forced convection to move hot air away from being in contact with a hot body
faster, replacing it with cool air. This increases the rate of transfer of heat.

The engine of a car uses forced convection to push a fluid through the engine and around the hot chambers, taking heat
more effectively.
This can be viewed at the following site:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/coolingsystem.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiator_%28engine_cooling%29

A bulb in thermal equilibrium

When a bulb is switched on, an electric current flows to it bringing energy. The bulb eventually reaches a constant
brightness. This dynamic equilibrium occurs when the rate of supply of electrical energy becomes equal to the rate of
loss of heat energy from the filament by conduction, convection and radiation. The brightness you observe from the
bulb is due to the rate of loss of radiant energy from the bulb in the visible spectrum.
Noting that the total power over all wavelengths is given by the Setfans law equation:
Suppose a higher voltage is now supplied to the bulb, energy would then be arriving at the bulb at a greater rate. This
would initially exceed the rate of energy dissipation, and result in a rise in temperature of the filament.
If a temperature is reached where the rate of dissipation of energy is again equal to the rate of supply, the equilibrium
would be set up at a higher voltage. This would mean that according to Stefans Law, the bulb would be brighter.


If equilibrium is not attained, the temperature of the filament would keep rising until the melting point is reached, the
path of the current flow would be disrupted when the filament melts. The bulb would be said to be blown.
If the voltage of the filament is kept constant and a fan is pointed to the exposed filament instead, how would this affect
the operation of the bulb?
To start with the bulb is already in thermal equilibrium a the temperature T,

Now more heat is flowing out of the bulb because of the forced convection. The temperature of the bulb would
drop until another equilibrium is formed at a lower temperature T1.
At this lower temperature T1, the light energy produced would be less so the bulb would appear less bright or not
glow in the visible at all.
Task 1: Why does the coils in a hair drier start to glow when the air flow in or out of it is restricted?
Task 2:
Which of the following factors affect the rate of convection?

Density of the fluid

Specific heat capacity of the fluid
Temperature difference between the hot body and the cold fluid
Ease of movement of the fluid (obstructions, viscosity)