Steady-State Heat Conduction JavaScript Simulation Applet HTML5

Heat conducts through solids at different rates, and is dependent on the thickness of the solid and the heat conductivity of the solid.

We call this a steady-state conduction if the temperature difference driving the heat transfer is constant. In this simulation, it is assumed that the left side of a three-layered solid is set at a constant 25°C and the right side is set at a constant 0°C.

This simulation (link here) assumes that there is no loss of heat from the system (i.e.: this is a closed system). There are 3 walls in the graph on the left, representing 3 different solids that the heat conducts through. The graph on the right plots the temperature-thickness graph, showing how the temperature changes through the solids, and color-coded to represent the solid the heat travels through at that point.

There are 6 sliders to adjust the thickness and conductivity of each wall at the top of the simulation.