Object Overview

2–3 paragraphs describing:

• the physical object

• how heat moves through it

• why it is interesting

An old-style incandescent light bulb is composed of a tungsten filament in a glass bulb with a metal base. The bulb produces light and thermal energy when an electric current is passed through the filament. The glass bulb is a boundary separating the internal system from the surrounding air.

The process of heat transfer in the bulb starts with internal heat generation in the filament. The generated heat is then conducted to the boundary. At the boundary, which is the glass bulb's surface, the heat is dissipated to the surroundings.

This problem is useful in the analysis of heat transfer because it contains all the important processes in one simple system. It contains internal heat generation, conduction in a solid material, and boundary conditions. This problem is suitable for nodal analysis.

describes the object physically
explains heat flow, simply
including course concepts (generation, conduction, convection, radiation)
good engineering model