Meaning of heat

Meaning of heat

When an object at higher temperature is placed in contact with another object at lower temperature, there will be a spontaneous flow of energy from the object at higher temperature to the one at lower temperature. This energy is called heat. This process of energy transfer from higher temperature object to lower temperature object is called heating. Due to flow of heat sometimes the temperature of the body will increase or sometimes it may not increase.

EXAMPLE 8.1

a. ‘A lake has more rain’.

b. ‘A hot cup of coffee has more heat’. What is wrong in these two statements?

Solution

a. When it rains, lake receives water from the cloud. Once the rain stops, the lake will have more water than before raining. Here ‘raining’ is a process which brings water from the cloud. Rain is not a quantity rather it is water in transit. So the statement ‘lake has more rain’ is wrong, instead the ‘lake has more water’ will be appropriate.

b. When heated, a cup of coffee receives heat from the stove. Once the coffee is taken from the stove, the cup of coffee has more internal energy than before. ‘Heat’ is the energy in transit and which flows from an object at higher temperature to an object at lower temperature. Heat is not a quantity. So the statement ‘A hot cup of coffee has more heat’ is wrong, instead ‘coffee is hot’ will be appropriate.