Question

A wall in a house contains a single window. The window consists of a single pane of glass whose area is 0.15 m2 and whose thickness is 7 mm. Treat the wall as a slab of the insulating material Styrofoam whose area and thickness are 17 m2 and 0.20 m, respectively. Heat is lost via conduction through the wall and the window. The temperature difference between the inside and outside is the same for the wall and the window. Of the total heat lost by the wall and the window, what is the percentage lost by the window

Answer 1

88 %

Step-by-step explanation:

The rate of heat loss by a conducting material of thermal conductivity K, cross-sectional area,A and thickness d with a temperature gradient ΔT is given by

P = KAΔT/d

The total heat lost by the styrofoam wall is P₁ = K₁A₁ΔT₁/d₁ where K₁ =thermal conductivity of styrofoam wall 0.033 W/m-K, A₁ = area of styrofoam wall = 17 m², ΔT₁ = temperature gradient between inside and outside of the wall and d₁ = thickness of styrofoam wall = 0.20 m

The total heat lost by the glass window is P₂ = K₂A₂ΔT₂/d₂ where K₂ =thermal conductivity of glass window pane wall 0.96 W/m-K, A₂ = area of glass window pane = 0.15 m², ΔT₂ = temperature gradient between inside and outside of the window and d₂ = thickness of glass window pane = 7 mm = 0.007 m

The total heat lost is P = P₁ + P₂ = K₁A₁ΔT₁/d₁ + K₂A₂ΔT₂/d₂

Now, since the temperatures of both inside and outside of both window and wall are the same, ΔT₁ = ΔT₂ = ΔT

So, P = K₁A₁ΔT/d₁ + K₂A₂ΔT/d₂

Since P₂ = K₂A₂ΔT₂/d₂ = K₂A₂ΔT/d₂is the heat lost by the window, the fraction of the heat lost by the window from the total heat lost is

P₂/P = K₂A₂ΔT/d₂ ÷ (K₁A₁ΔT/d₁ + K₂A₂ΔT/d₂)

= 1/(K₁A₁ΔT/d₁÷K₂A₂ΔT/d₂ + 1)

= 1/(K₁A₁d₂÷K₂A₂d₁ + 1)

= 1/[(0.033 W/m-K × 17 m² × 0.007 m ÷ 0.96 W/m-K × 0.15 m² × 0.20 m) + 1]

= 1/(0.003927/0.0288 + 1)

= 1/(0.1364 + 1)

= 1/1.1364

= 0.88.

The percentage is thus P₂/P × 100 % = 0.88 × 100 % = 88 %

The percentage of heat lost by window of the total heat is 88 %