Can Heat Dissipate Without a Medium for Transfer?

  • Context: Undergrad 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Interception
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Heat
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the question of whether heat can dissipate from a heated metal object suspended in an evacuated isolated system without a medium for transfer. Participants explore the implications of thermal radiation and the behavior of different materials in such a scenario.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether a heated metal object in a vacuum would lose temperature over time, considering the absence of gas molecules for heat transfer.
  • Another participant asserts that the metal would indeed cool due to thermal radiation, emphasizing that any object above absolute zero emits heat through this mechanism.
  • A third participant elaborates that while the metal will radiate energy, it may also absorb energy from its surroundings, complicating the cooling process if the surroundings are at the same temperature.
  • There is a mention of the differences in heat dissipation between metals and other materials, noting that metals have free electrons that facilitate energy emission more readily than gases.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that thermal radiation plays a role in the cooling of the metal, but there is no consensus on the overall outcome, particularly regarding the influence of surrounding temperatures and the behavior of different materials.

Contextual Notes

The discussion does not resolve the complexities involved in heat transfer mechanisms, particularly the interactions between radiation and absorption in different materials.

Interception
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Ok, so this may be more of a chemistry oriented question, but physics is pretty much the foundation of chemistry. We've covered thermochemistry to some extent in my Properties of General Chem class, and I had a thought. Since heat is associated with the random motion of atoms and molecules within a substance or state of matter, suppose I had a piece of metal heated to a specific temperature (not really important what temperature but let's say around 100* Celsius) suspended in an evacuated isolated system (I have no idea how it would be suspended, so long as it is not in contact with any other surface, so just assume it is). Would the temperature of the metal drop? There are no gas molecules within the system for the heat to be transferred to, and it is not in contact with anything else. Would the average kinetic energy of the molecules begin to slow over time due to intermolecular forces? This is just out of curiousity, and I apologize if it sounds rediculous.
 
Science news on Phys.org
Is this what you mean to say:
You suspend a metal in a vacuum isolated jar(say), so, does the metal cool?

If that's what you wish to say, the answer is yes. It would definitely drop. And it is due to Radiation.
 
Excellent question!
The fact of the matter is that anything with temperature higher than absolute zero (0 kelvin) will loose heat to the surroundings via thermal radiation (electromagnetic radiation due to non-zero temperature).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_radiation


Roman.
 
Because you specified a metal object, it will certainly radiate energy. But it will also absorb energy radiated from its surroundings, so if they're at the same temperature it is unlikely to cool.
For other materials it gets more complex. A ball of nitrogen gas in space, hanging together by gravitational attraction, would have great difficulty emitting anything unless molecules in it reach sufficient energy to knock electrons into excited states.
The difference is all those free electrons buzzing around in metals, ready to emit at the slightest acceleration.
 

Similar threads

High School Can Metal Pins Increase Heat Transfer in Concrete Walls?
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
2K
Undergrad Questions about my Understanding of Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
3K
Undergrad Can heat transfer break an equilibrium?
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
1K
Undergrad How to understand experiment to measure heat capacity of solid?
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
Undergrad What is the Role of Convective Heat Transfer in Cavitation of Cryogenic Fluids?
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
Undergrad Extremely strange consequence of the speed of heat value
  • · Replies 19 ·
Replies
19
Views
2K
Undergrad Time for a cold volume of air to reach a higher air temperature
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
3K
Undergrad Physics of Heat Transfer in Glass Windows
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
4K
Graduate How can an adiabatic process decrease internal energy without transferring heat?
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
3K
Undergrad Calculating Heat Transfer Between 3 Mediums: Copper, Ground, Water
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K