Thursday Oct. 10, 2013

We had time for all of the following before class: Nickel Creek "Smoothie Song" (3:43), Crooked Still "American Tune" (3:25), Patty Griffin "Heavenly Day" (4:13), Alison Krauss "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us" (3:20)

The Bonus 1S1P Surface Weather Map Analysis was collected in class today.  I'll try to get it graded in time to return next Tuesday (no promises).

The Quiz #2 Study Guide is now online.  Quiz #2 is Thursday next week (Oct. 17, also the day the US Govt. runs out of money to pay its bills if Congress doesn't raise the Debt Limit).  It's not clear whether we will have time to cover the small section on radiative equilibrium (at the end of the study guide) by the end of class next Tuesday.  If we don't cover that you won't have to worry about it appearing on the quiz.

The Upper Level Chart Optional Assignment is due next Tuesday.

The 1S1P Carbon Dioxide reports have been graded and were returned in class today.

Conduction is the first of four energy transport processes that we will cover (and the least important transport process in the atmosphere).  The figure below illustrates this process.  Imagine heating the end of a piece of copper tubing just so you can visualize a hot object.  If you held the object in air it would slowly lose energy by conduction and cool off.



How does that happen?  In the top picture some of the atoms or molecules near the hot object have collided with the object and picked up energy from the object.  This is reflected by the increased speed of motion or increased kinetic energy of these molecules or atoms (these guys are colored orange). 

In the middle picture the initial layer of energetic molecules have collided with some of their neighbors and shared energy with them (these are pink).  The neighbor molecules have gained energy though they don't have as much energy as the molecules next to the hot object.

In the third picture molecules further out (yellow) have now gained some energy.  The random motions and collisions between molecules is carrying energy from the hot object out into the colder surrounding air.

Conduction transports energy from hot to cold.  The rate of energy transport depends first on the temperature gradient or temperature difference between the hot object and the cooler surroundings.  If the object in the picture had been warm rather than hot, less energy would flow and energy would flow at a slower into the surrounding air.

The rate of energy transport also depends on the material transporting energy (air in the example above).  Thermal conductivities of some common materials are listed.  Air is a very poor conductor of energy and is generally regarded as an insulator. 

Water is a little bit better conductor.  Metals are generally very good conductors (cooking pans are often made of stainless steel but have aluminum or copper bottoms to evenly spread out heat when placed on a stove).  Diamond has a very high thermal conductivity (apparently the highest of all known solids).  Diamonds are sometimes called "ice."  They feel cold when you touch them.  The cold feeling is due to the fact that they conduct energy very quickly away from your warm fingers when you touch them.

I brought a propane torch to class to demonstrate the behavior of materials with different thermal conductivities. 






A piece of copper tubing is held in the flame in the picture at left.  Copper is a good conductor.  Energy is transported from the flame by the copper and you must grab the tubing several inches from the end to keep from burning your fingers.  Part of a glass graduated cylinder is held in the flame in the center picture.  You could comfortably hold onto the cylinder just a couple of inches from the end because glass is a relatively poor conductor.  The end of the glass tubing got so hot that it began to glow (its is emitting radiant energy, the 4th of the energy transport processes we will discuss).  Air is such a poor conductor that it is safe to hold your finger just half an inch from the hot flame and still not feel any heat coming from the flame (but be careful putting your hand or fingers above the flame)

Transport of energy by conduction is similar to the transport of a strong smell throughout a classroom by diffusion.  Small eddies of wind in the classroom blow in random directions and move smells throughout the room.  For a demonstration you need something that has a strong smell but is safe to breathe.




In the past I've used curry powder but the smell doesn't get much beyond the first 2 or 3 rows.  This year I tried medicated "Chest Rub" (the CVS Pharmacy version of "Vicks Vapo Rub"  This product contains Camphor, Eucalyptus Oil, and Menthol. 





The Chest Rub didn't work very well either (probably because it's mixed with a bunch of petroleum jelly and the oils aren't able to evaporate into the air).  Also ILC 150 is too large and the ventilation system is too good.  It quickly replaces air in the classroom with fresh air from outside (if mercury were ever spilled I'm guessing the ventilation system won't allow the vapor to build up the dangerous levels).

Because air has such a low thermal conductivity it is often used as an insulator.  It is important, however, to keep the air trapped in small pockets or small volumes so that it isn't able to move and transport energy by convection (we'll look at convection shortly).  Here are some examples of insulators that use air:


Foam is often used as an insulator.  Foam is filled with lots of small air bubbles, they're what provides the insulation.





Thin insulating layer of air in a double pane window.  I don't have double pane windows in my house.  As a matter of fact I leave a window open so my cats can get in and out of the house (that's not particularly energy efficient).

Some of the coldest weather seen in months is forecast for today and Friday in Tucson, you might need a coat.

Hollow fibers (Hollofil) filled with air used in sleeping bags and ski coats.  Goose feathers (goosedown) work in a similar way.  Fiberglas insulation is another example.  It works so well as an insulator first because it is glass which has low thermal conductivity and also because it traps lots of little pockets of air.


Convection was the next energy transport process we had a look at. 


Rather than moving about randomly, the atoms or molecules move together as a group (organized motion).  Convection works in liquids and gases but not solids (the atoms or molecules in a solid can't move freely).

I heated up the piece of copper tubing again.  How would you cool it off?  You could just hold onto it and it would eventually cool by conduction.  If you were in a little  bit more of a hurry you could blow on it.  That's forced convection.  You could, as someone suggested, stick the hot end of the copper pipe in some water.  That would be an example of latent heat energy transport, we'll be discussing that later in the period.

At Point 1 in the picture above a thin layer of air surrounding a hot object has been heated by conduction. Then at Point 2 a person is blowing the blob of warm air off to the right.  The warm air molecules are moving away at Point 3 from the hot object together as a group (that's the organized part of the motion).  At Point 4 cooler air moves in and surrounds the hot object and the whole process repeats itself. 

__________
We went back to the curry powder/chest rub demonstration.  Diffusion wasn't able to spread the smell very far into the classroom.  To try to spread the smell somewhat further, I put a small fan behind the curry powder or chest rub.  That would be more like forced convection and would be more effective than just diffusion.
_________

And actually you don't need to force convection, it will often happen on its own.
A thin layer of air at Point 1 in the figure above (lower left) is heated by conduction.  Then because hot air is also low density air, it actually isn't necessary to blow on the hot object, the warm air will rise by itself (Point 3).  Energy is being transported away from the hot object into the cooler surrounding air.  This is called free convection.  Cooler air moves in to take the place of the rising air at Point 4 and the cycle repeats itself.

The example at upper right is also free convection.  Room temperature air in contact with a cold object loses energy and becomes cold high density air.  The sinking air motions that would be found around a cold object have the effect of transporting energy from the room temperature surroundings to the colder object.

In both examples of free convection, energy is being transported from hot toward cold.

I could put my finger alongside the flame from the propane torch without any problem.  There's very little energy transported sideways through air by conduction.   I'm very careful if I put my fingers or hand above the torch.  That's because there's a lot of very hot air rising from the torch.  This is energy transport by free convection and its something you can see. 





You could see (with a little imagination) the shimmering of hot rising air when I held the torch in front of the projector screen.  There is a technique, called Schlieren photography, that can better catch these barely visible air motions (it is able to see and photograph the differences in air density).  The photo at right is an example and shows the hot rising air above a candle.  The photo was taken by Gary Settles from Penn State University and can be found at this site.

Now some fairly practical applications, I think, of what we have learned about conductive and convective energy transport.  Energy transport really does show up in a lot more everyday real life situations than you might expect.



Note first of all there is a temperature difference between your hand and a room temperature (70 F) object.  Energy will flow from your warm hand to the colder object.  Metals are better conductors than wood.  If you touch a piece of 70 F metal it will feel much colder than a piece of 70 F wood, even though they both have the same temperature.  A piece of 70 F diamond would feel even colder because it is an even better conductor than metal.  A piece of aluminum and a piece of wood (oak) were passed around class so that you could check this out for yourself.

Something that feels cold may not be as cold as it seems.


Our perception of cold
is more an indication of how quickly our body or hand or whatever is losing energy
than a reliable measurement of temperature.

Here's another example



It's pleasant standing outside on a nice day in 70 F air.  But if you jump into 70 F pool water you will feel cold, at least until you "get used to" the water temperature (your body might reduce blood flow to your extremities and skin to try to reduce energy loss).

Air is a poor conductor.  If you go out in 40 F weather you will feel cold largely because there is a larger temperature difference between you and your surroundings (and temperature difference is one of the factors that affect rate of energy transport by conduction). 




If you stick your hand into a bucket of 40 F water (I probably shouldn't, but I will suggest you try this), it will feel very cold (your hand will actually soon begin to hurt).  Keep some warm water nearby to warm up your hand. 

Water is a much better conductor than air.  Energy flows much more rapidly from your hand into the cold water.  I mentioned in class that I thought this might be good for you.  The reason is that successive application of hot and then cold is sometimes used to treat arthritis joint pain.



You can safely stick your hand into liquid nitrogen for a fraction of a second.  There is an enormous temperature difference between your hand and the liquid nitrogen which would ordinarily cause energy to leave your hand at a dangerously high rate (which could cause your hand to freeze solid).  It doesn't feel particularly cold though and doesn't feel wet.  The reason is that some of the liquid nitrogen evaporates and quickly surrounds your hand with a layer of nitrogen gas.  Just like air, nitrogen is a poor conductor (air is mostly nitrogen).  The nitrogen gas insulates your hand from the cold for a very short time (the gas is a poor conductor but a conductor nonetheless)  If you leave your hand in the liquid nitrogen for even a few seconds it would begin to freeze.  That would cause irreparable damage.

A question came up in class a semester or two ago about sticking you hand (or maybe just the tip of one finger) into molten lead.  I've never seen it done and certainly haven't tried it myself.  But I suspected that you would first need to wet your hand.  Then once you stick it into the lead the water would vaporize and surround your hand with a thin layer of gas, water vapor.  The water vapor is a poor conductor just like the nitrogen and oxygen in air, and that protects your hand, for a short time, from the intense heat.  Here's a video.

Wind chill is a really good example of energy transport by convection.  As a matter of fact I'm hoping that

if I mention energy transport by convection that you'll first think of wind chill 

It is also a reminder that our perception of cold is an indication of how quickly our body is losing energy rather than an accurate measurement of temperature.  Today's cool windy weather is a perfect time to experience wind chill for yourself. 



Your body works hard to keep its core temperature around 98.6 F.  If you go outside on a 40 F day (calm winds) you will feel cool; your body is losing energy to the colder surroundings (by conduction mainly).  Your body will be able to keep you warm for a little while anyway (perhaps indefinitely, I don't know).  The 5 arrows represent the rate at which your body is losing energy. 

A thermometer behaves differently, it is supposed to cool to the temperature of the surroundings.  Once it reaches 40 F and has the same temperature as the air around it the energy loss will stop.  If your body cools to 40 F you will die.


If you go outside on a 40 F day with 30 MPH winds your body will lose energy at a more rapid rate (because convection together with conduction are transporting energy away from your body).  Note the additional arrows drawn on the figures above indicating the greater heat loss.  This higher rate of energy loss will make it feel colder than a 40 F day with calm winds.  

Actually, in terms of the rate at which your body loses energy, the windy 40 F day would feel the same as a 28 F day without any wind.  Your body is losing energy at the same rate in both cases (9 arrows in both cases).  The combination 40 F and 30 MPH winds results in a wind chill temperature of 28 F.

The thermometer will again cool to the temperature of its surroundings, it will just cool more quickly on a windy day.  Once the thermometer reaches 40 F there won't be any additional energy flow or further cooling.   The thermometer would measure 40 F on both the calm and the windy day.
Standing outside on a 40 F day is not an immediate life threatening situation.  Falling into 40 F water is, you'd last about 30 minutes (you'd probably go unconscious before that and die by drowning).


 Energy will be conducted away from your body more quickly than your body can replace it.  Your core body temperature will drop and bring on hypothermia.

Be sure not to confuse hypothermia with hyperthermia which can bring on heatstroke and is a serious outdoors risk in S. Arizona in the summer.

We spent the remainder of the class period looking at latent heat energy transport.  This is the 3rd energy transport process that we will cover. 

If you had an object that you wanted to cool off quickly you could blow on it.  That might take a minute or two (maybe more).  Or you could stick it into some water, that would cool it off pretty quickly because water will conduct energy more rapidly than air.  With a really hot object immersed in water, you'd probably hear a brief sizzling sound, the sound of boiling water.  A lot of energy would be taken quickly from the hot object and used to boil (evaporate) the water.  The cooling in this case takes only a few seconds.

Latent heat energy transport is sometimes a little hard to visualize or understand because the energy is "hidden" in water vapor or water.



Latent heat energy transport is associated with changes of phase (solid to liquid, water to water vapor, that sort of thing) A solid to liquid phase change is melting, liquid to gas is evaporation, and sublimation is a solid to gas phase change.  Dry ice is probably the best example of sublimation.  When placed in a warm room, dry ice turns directly from solid carbon dioxide to gaseous carbon dioxide without melting first.  If you wash clothes and stick them outside on a cold (below freezing) day they will eventually dry.  The clothes would first freeze but then the ice would slowly sublimate away. 

In each case above energy must be added to the material changing phase.  You can consciously add or supply the energy (such as when you put water in a pan and put the pan on a hot stove) or the phase change can occur without you playing any role.  In that case the needed energy will be taken from the surroundings.

Here's the simplest example I can think of



You put an ice cube in a glass of warm water.


Energy will naturally flow from hot to cold; in this case from the water (room temperature would be about 70 F) to the ice (32 F).  This transport of energy would occur via conduction..


Once the ice had absorbed enough energy it would melt.  Energy taken from the water would cause the water to cool.  The energy that needed to be added to the ice would be taken from the surroundings (the water) and would cause the surroundings to cool.

Here's another example you should be very familiar with.


When you step out of the shower in the morning you're covered with water.  Some of the water evaporates.  It does so whether you want it to or not.  Evaporation requires energy and it gets that energy from your body.  Because your body is losing energy your body feels cold.





The object of this figure is to give you some appreciation for the amount of energy involved in phase changes.  A 240 pound man (I have been using  Tedy Bruschi as an example for several years) or woman running at 20 MPH has just enough kinetic energy (if you could capture it) to be able to melt an ordinary ice cube.  It would take 8 people running at 20 MPH to evaporate the resulting ice water. 

Phase changes can also go in the other direction.


You can consciously remove energy from water vapor to make it condense.  You take energy out of water to cause it to freeze (you could put water in a freezer;  energy would flow from the relatively warm water to the colder surroundings).  If one of these phase changes occurs, without you playing a role, energy will be released into the surroundings (causing the surroundings to warm).  Note the orange energy arrows have turned around and are pointing from the material toward the surroundings.  It's kind of like a genie coming out of a magic lamp.  One Tedy Bruschi worth of kinetic energy is released when enough water freezes to make an ice cube.  Many genies, many Tedy Bruschis, are released when water vapor condenses.

This release of energy into the surroundings and the warming of the surroundings is a little harder for us to appreciate because it never really happens to us in a way that we can feel.  Have you ever stepped out of an air conditioned building into warm moist air outdoors and had your glasses or sunglasses "steam up"?  That never happens to you (i.e. your body doesn't steam up) because your body is too warm.  However if it did you would feel warm.  It would be just the opposite of the cold feeling when you step out of the shower or a pool and the water on your body evaporates.  You know how cold the evaporation can make you feel, the same amount of condensation would produce a lot of warming.

A can of cold drink will warm more quickly in warm moist surroundings than in warm dry surroundings.  Equal amounts of heat will flow from the warm air into the cold cans in both cases.  Condensation of water vapor is an additional source of energy and will warm that can more rapidly.  I suspect that the condensation may actually be the dominant process.

The foam "cozy", "koozie", or whatever you want to call it, that you can put around a can of soda or beer is designed to insulate the can from the warmer surroundings but also to keep water vapor in the air from condensing onto the can.

Now a figure to illustrate how latent heat energy transport works.

This figure shows how energy can be transported from one location to another in the form of latent heat.  The story starts at left in the tropics where there is often an abundance or surplus of sunlight energy.  Some of the incoming sunlight evaporates ocean water.  The resulting water vapor moves somewhere else and carries hidden latent heat energy with it. This hidden energy reappears when something (air running into a mountain and rising, expanding, and cooling) causes the water vapor to condense.  The condensation releases energy into the surrounding atmosphere.  This would warm the air.

Energy arriving in sunlight in the tropics has effectively been transported to the atmosphere in a place like Tucson.

Here's another illustration of latent heat energy transport that I like even more.




You've just stepped out of the shower and at Pt. 1 energy is being taken from your body and being used to evaporate water.  The water vapor, now containing the energy from your body (Pt. 2), is free to move from the bathroom to the kitchen where a cold can is sitting on a table.  Water vapor comes into contact with the cold can and condenses at Pt. 3.  The hidden latent heat energy in the water vapor is released into the can and warms the drink inside. 

Energy has effectively been transported from your warm body in the bathroom to a can in the kitchen.