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Newton's Law of Cooling Model
written by Wolfgang Christian
This interactive simulation is designed to help students visualize heat transfer and build a foundation to understand specific heat and thermal properties of matter. As an object of uniform temperature is heated by a flame and cooled by the surrounding medium, the model computes the temperature as a function of time. Students can choose from three materials: copper, aluminum, or iron. They can also select values for mass and volume of the object. This lumped system approximation is valid if the rate of thermal energy transfer within the object is faster than the rate of thermal energy transfer at the surface.

Editor's Note: See Annotations for content support on the topics of heat, temperature, and specific heat capacity.

This simulation was developed to supplement an article by William Dittrich, "Measuring the specific heat of metals by cooling", which has been accepted for publication in The Physics Teacher (TPT).  

This item was created with Easy Java Simulations (EJS), a modeling tool that allows users without formal programming experience to generate computer models and simulations. To run the simulation, simply click the Java Archive file below. To modify or customize the model, See Related Materials for detailed instructions on installing and running the EJS Modeling and Authoring Tool.

Please note that this resource requires at least version 1.5 of Java.
4 supplemental documents are available
2 source code documents are available
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Mathematical Tools
- Differential Equations
Thermo & Stat Mech
- Thermal Properties of Matter
= Temperature
= Thermometry
- High School
- Lower Undergraduate
- Upper Undergraduate
- Instructional Material
= Interactive Simulation
Appropriate Courses Categories Ratings
- Conceptual Physics
- Algebra-based Physics
- AP Physics
- Activity
- New teachers
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Intended Users:
Educator
Learner
Format:
application/java
Access Rights:
Free access
License:
This material is released under a GNU General Public License Version 3 license. Additional information is available.
Rights Holder:
Wolfgang Christian
Keywords:
EJS, cooling, heat simulation, heating, specific heat, thermodynamics simulation
Record Cloner:
Metadata instance created June 5, 2010 by Wolfgang Christian
Record Updated:
January 15, 2019 by wee lookang
Last Update
when Cataloged:
June 5, 2010
Other Collections:

AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

4. The Physical Setting

4D. The Structure of Matter
  • 3-5: 4D/E1a. Heating and cooling can cause changes in the properties of materials, but not all materials respond the same way to being heated and cooled.
4E. Energy Transformations
  • 3-5: 4E/E2a. When warmer things are put with cooler ones, the warmer things get cooler and the cooler things get warmer until they all are the same temperature.
  • 3-5: 4E/E2b. When warmer things are put with cooler ones, heat is transferred from the warmer ones to the cooler ones.
  • 3-5: 4E/E2c. A warmer object can warm a cooler one by contact or at a distance.
  • 6-8: 4E/M2. Energy can be transferred from one system to another (or from a system to its environment) in different ways: 1) thermally, when a warmer object is in contact with a cooler one; 2) mechanically, when two objects push or pull on each other over a distance; 3) electrically, when an electrical source such as a battery or generator is connected in a complete circuit to an electrical device; or 4) by electromagnetic waves.

AAAS Benchmark Alignments (1993 Version)

4. THE PHYSICAL SETTING

E. Energy Transformations
  • 4E (3-5) #2.  When warmer things are put with cooler ones, the warm ones lose heat and the cool ones gain it until they are all at the same temperature. A warmer object can warm a cooler one by contact or at a distance.
  • 4E (9-12) #3.  Transformations of energy usually produce some energy in the form of heat, which spreads around by radiation or conduction into cooler places. Although just as much total energy remains, its being spread out more evenly means less can be done with it.

NSES Content Standards

Con.B: Physical Science
  • K-4: Light, Heat, Electricity, Magnetism
  • 5-8: Transfer of Energy
the Book of Phyz: Introduction to Heat (Editor: Caroline Hall)
Date: 07/13/2010

The Physics Front editors recommend this educator's guide that offers content support in fundamentals of heat and thermal properties. Both teachers and learners will appreciate the straightforward examples, simple writing style, and historical perspectives offered by the author.

The Book of Phyz: Introduction to Heat (html)

ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!

Record Link
AIP Format
W. Christian, Computer Program NEWTON'S LAW OF COOLING MODEL, Version 1.0 (2010), WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=10071&DocID=1667).
AJP/PRST-PER
W. Christian, Computer Program NEWTON'S LAW OF COOLING MODEL, Version 1.0 (2010), <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=10071&DocID=1667>.
APA Format
Christian, W. (2010). Newton's Law of Cooling Model (Version 1.0) [Computer software]. Retrieved December 9, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=10071&DocID=1667
Chicago Format
Christian, Wolfgang. "Newton's Law of Cooling Model." Version 1.0. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=10071&DocID=1667 (accessed 9 December 2024).
MLA Format
Christian, Wolfgang. Newton's Law of Cooling Model. Vers. 1.0. Computer software. 2010. Java 1.5. 9 Dec. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=10071&DocID=1667>.
BibTeX Export Format
@misc{ Author = "Wolfgang Christian", Title = {Newton's Law of Cooling Model}, Month = {June}, Year = {2010} }
Refer Export Format

%A Wolfgang Christian %T Newton's Law of Cooling Model %D June 5, 2010 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=10071&DocID=1667 %O 1.0 %O application/java

EndNote Export Format

%0 Computer Program %A Christian, Wolfgang %D June 5, 2010 %T Newton's Law of Cooling Model %7 1.0 %8 June 5, 2010 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=10071&DocID=1667


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The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

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Newton's Law of Cooling Model:

Is Based On Easy Java Simulations Modeling and Authoring Tool

The Easy Java Simulations Modeling and Authoring Tool is needed to explore the computational model used in the Newton's Law of Cooling Model.

relation by Wolfgang Christian
Is a Teaching Guide For Physics Classroom: What Does Heat Do?

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