Thermodynamics | Hot and Cold Bodies

Hot and Cold Bodies

When we rub our hands for some time, they become warm. When a block slides on a rough surface, it becomes warm. Press against a rapidly spinning wheel. The wheel slows down and becomes warm. While going on a bicycle, touch the road with your shoe. The bicycle slows down and the shoe becomes warm. When two vehicle;; collide with each other during an accident, they become very hot. When an aeroplane crashes, it becomes so hot that it catches fire.

In each of these examples, mechanical energy is lost and the bodies in question become hot. Where does the mechanical energy vanish? It goes into the internal energy of the bodies. We conclude that the cold bodies absorb energy to become hot. In other words, a hot body has more internal energy than an otherwise identical cold body.

When a hot body is kept in contact with a cold body, the cold body warms up and the hot body cools down. The internal energy of the hot body decreases and the internal energy of the cold body increases. Thus, energy is transferred from the hot body to the cold body when they are placed in contact. Notice that no mechanical work is done during this transfer of energy (neglect any change in volume of the body).

This is because there are no displacements involved. This is different from the case when we lift a ball vertically and the energy of the ball-earth system increases or when a compressed spring relaxes and a block attached to its end speeds up. In the case of lifting the ball, we do some work on the ball and the energy is increased by that amount. In the case of spring-block example, the spring does some work and the kinetic energy of the block increases.

The transfer of energy from a hot body to a cold body is a non-mechanical process. The energy that is transferred from one body to the other, without any mechanical work involved, is called heat.