Heat

 "Hot" topic of the month? Heat! Get it? (Hot, heat. I'm so funny). So, this time around, we're taking on heat. You've felt it. You want some of it from time to time (like when you're cold or something, obviously). Yet you've always (maybe) wondered what in Tartarus is heat. I'm here, as always to help you out. 

So, first things first: What is heat? According to its Wikipedia page (yes it has one, unlike you, or me), Heat is energy in transfer to or from a thermodynamic system, by mechanisms other than thermodynamic work or transfer of matter (e.g. conduction, radiation, and friction). Sounds scary, doesn't it? That's because it is if you go by what I have to study on a day-to-day basis. Life's good. Back to the "hot" topic now. In simpler terms, heat is the sum of the kinetic energy present in an object or a system. So, the vibrations of all the particles in an object (or a system) together have some energy. That energy is heat.

Before moving on, let's get one thing straight: heat is different from temperature. The heat in an object does affect its temperature, but it is not the temperature itself. Adding or removing heat from an object can either change its temperature or its state of existence (solid, fluid, plasma, etc). Temperature is the sum of the thermal energy in an object, whereas heat is the total energy of an object whose particles are in vibrational motion.

Now that we have the basics out of the way, thank god. Sometimes it's so frustrating trying to make someone understand something, you just "heat" up (hehe). Okay now, there are 3 ways for heat to get transferred from one object (or, again, a system) to another: conduction, convection and radiation. 

Conduction of heat is the direct transfer of heat itself from particle(s) to particle(s),e.g., you sitting on your bed under an electric blanket, which warms you up due to direct contact with your skin, making you feel cozy. Convection of heat is its transfer by the movement of the heated particle(s) themselves, depositing their heat at their new location, e.g., you sitting on your bed with the heater switched on, which warms you up because the air warmed by the heater rises up and eventually fills the entire room, making you feel cozy. Radiation of heat is basically the emission of electromagnetic waves from any source, generally the waves from the Infrared range,e.g., you sitting on your bed with the curtains parted, letting in the sunshine, whose rays transfer heat to anything they come in contact with, making you feel, again, cozy. Well, that's a lot of being cozy for you guys next time I won't be this nice.

Anyways, that's one "heated" article (last pun I promise) for you to burn your brain cells this time. Keep exercising that Grey Matter and I'll see you peeps next month.