Heat loss occurs when heat transfers from hotter to colder areas. It can be caused by conduction, convection, and thermal radiation. Heat loss is important in areas such as home design and medicine, and can be addressed through insulation and reflective materials. Different materials have different properties that affect heat transfer.
Heat loss is the net loss of heat through transfer from hotter to colder areas. The environment usually works towards thermodynamic equilibrium, where no heat transfer occurs because everything is at the same state. Along the way, heat loss occurs. This can be important for everything from understanding how refrigeration works to insulating a home to keep the internal temperature as stable as possible.
There are several ways to transfer heat. One is by conduction, where a hot object contacts a cooler one. The excited atoms of the hot object collide with those of the cold object, transferring energy and creating a net heat loss. Convection with gases and fluids allows hot energy to circulate and cause heat loss. In thermal radiation, charged particles emanate from one object and transfer to the nearest object, like a dog lying in front of a hot stove.
In something like home design, heat loss is a cause for concern. The large floor area of the home creates plenty of space for outside air to conduct, while convection within the home will encourage warm air to rise and then escape through the roof by conduction. Some steps designers can take to address these concerns include heavily insulating the house to create a barrier, as well as reflecting heat from outside to prevent conduction through the walls and inside in hot climates.
The equations can model heat flow and heat loss for design or research purposes. Different materials have their own properties and these can determine the rate of heat loss and transfer. Researchers may be able to use different conduction speeds to their advantage in some contexts. This can be seen with the mechanical controls on some thermostats where two metal strips turn heat on and off as they expand and contract in response to changes in temperature.
Heat loss can also be a problem in medicine, where core temperatures can drop very quickly in bad weather and it can be difficult to bring them back up. Hypothermic patients may need blankets, hot water bottles, and other supportive care to warm up slowly. As anyone who has come into contact with a person fresh out of a cold body of water knows, heat exchange can also occur between people. The person who was sitting on the shore will feel colder after contact with the swimmer because she is experiencing heat transfer.
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