This higher tier covers Higher Tier Only: Rate of Heat Transfer within Heat Transfer for GCSE Physics. Revise Heat Transfer in Energy for GCSE Physics with 14 exam-style questions and 11 flashcards. Use this page as part of a wider topic revision path rather than treating it as an isolated fact. It is section 14 of 17 in this topic. This section is most useful once the core foundation idea is secure, because it adds the detail that pushes answers higher.
🎓 Higher Tier Only: Rate of Heat Transfer
The rate of heat transfer by conduction depends on:
- Temperature difference — greater difference = faster transfer
- Thickness of material — thicker = slower transfer
- Thermal conductivity — a property of the material (metals have high conductivity)
- Surface area — larger area = faster transfer
For radiation, the Stefan-Boltzmann law states that the power radiated is proportional to T⁴ (temperature in Kelvin to the fourth power). This means even small temperature increases cause large increases in radiation output — doubling the absolute temperature increases radiation by 16 times!
Practice questions for Heat Transfer
Which method of thermal energy transfer occurs mainly in solids?
Explain how a convection current forms when the base of a fluid is heated.