Lecture

Thermal Properties and Diffusion

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MSE-431: Physical chemistry of polymeric materials

The student has a basic understanding of the physical and physicochemical principles which result from the chainlike structure of synthetic macromolecules. The student can predict major characteristics of a polymer from its chemical structure and molecular ...

Description

This lecture covers the fundamental concepts of thermal properties and diffusion in materials, discussing topics such as thermal expansion coefficient, thermal stress, atomic diffusion, ductility, toughness, endurance limit, linear thermal expansion, specific heat capacity, thermal diffusion, and temperature dependence of material properties. The instructor explains how temperature affects the dimensions and mechanical properties of materials, emphasizing the importance of understanding these phenomena to prevent serious problems and accidents.

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Related concepts (32)

Specific heat capacity

In thermodynamics, the specific heat capacity (symbol c) of a substance is the heat capacity of a sample of the substance divided by the mass of the sample, also sometimes referred to as massic heat capacity. Informally, it is the amount of heat that must be added to one unit of mass of the substance in order to cause an increase of one unit in temperature. The SI unit of specific heat capacity is joule per kelvin per kilogram, J⋅kg−1⋅K−1.

Heat capacity

Heat capacity or thermal capacity is a physical property of matter, defined as the amount of heat to be supplied to an object to produce a unit change in its temperature. The SI unit of heat capacity is joule per kelvin (J/K). Heat capacity is an extensive property. The corresponding intensive property is the specific heat capacity, found by dividing the heat capacity of an object by its mass. Dividing the heat capacity by the amount of substance in moles yields its molar heat capacity.

Heat capacity ratio

In thermal physics and thermodynamics, the heat capacity ratio, also known as the adiabatic index, the ratio of specific heats, or Laplace's coefficient, is the ratio of the heat capacity at constant pressure (CP) to heat capacity at constant volume (CV). It is sometimes also known as the isentropic expansion factor and is denoted by γ (gamma) for an ideal gas or κ (kappa), the isentropic exponent for a real gas. The symbol γ is used by aerospace and chemical engineers.

Diffusion

Diffusion is the net movement of anything (for example, atoms, ions, molecules, energy) generally from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Diffusion is driven by a gradient in Gibbs free energy or chemical potential. It is possible to diffuse "uphill" from a region of lower concentration to a region of higher concentration, like in spinodal decomposition. Diffusion is a stochastic process due to the inherent randomness of the diffusing entity and can be used to model many real-life stochastic scenarios.

Molar heat capacity

The molar heat capacity of a chemical substance is the amount of energy that must be added, in the form of heat, to one mole of the substance in order to cause an increase of one unit in its temperature. Alternatively, it is the heat capacity of a sample of the substance divided by the amount of substance of the sample; or also the specific heat capacity of the substance times its molar mass. The SI unit of molar heat capacity is joule per kelvin per mole, J⋅K−1⋅mol−1.

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