Explore a model of heat conduction in a solid.
Heat is the amount of energy flowing from one body to another spontaneously due to their temperature difference.
Temperature is a measure of the average heat or thermal energy of the particles in a substance.
A material with a temperature above absolute zero has moving molecules within it. The greater the temperature of the material, the faster the molecules move on average. In a solid, the particles move but return to their average location within the solid.
When a faster-moving particle collides with a neighboring slower molecule, a portion of the kinetic energy transfers to the slower one, so it moves faster. At the molecular level, this is the transfer of heat.
When a portion of the solid is heated, the molecules within the area move faster. Molecules in the colder area of the solid are moving slower, but molecular collisions will transfer heat from the warm area to the colder area.
Step 1) Click "Setup / Reset."
Step 2) Click "Play / Stop."
Step 3) Create a temperature gradient in a variety of orientations and magnitudes by either heating and/or cooling parts of the solid square.
a) Click "Heat Left" to heat the molecules along the left edge of the solid.
b) Click "Heat Bottom" to heat the molecules along the bottom.
c) Click "Heat Point" to heat a small number of molecules along the center of the left side.
d) To remove heat from molecules on the edges of the solid, click the "Cool" buttons.
Create a number of experiments to see how heat conducts through a solid depending on the direction and magnitude of the temperature gradient (change in temperature over distance).
To reset the temperatures of the molecules for another experiment, click "Setup / Reset."
For more about heat conduction and other forms of heat transfer, see https://sciencepickle.com/energy/