At a molecular level, the faster the molecules transfer heat,
the faster the rate of transfer...
Thus, density should play an important factor in heat transfer
and its rate.
But I'm interested to know how mass affects the rate of heat
transfer...because larger molecules move slower? That may not hold
true.
And as for solids, the molecules are more or less only vibrating
in fixed structures, so mass should not be a factor for solids.
And unless I'm mistaken, also at a molecular level, density of
the substance also affects convection currents, which clearly meant
that density plays an important part in the rate of heat transfer
to the environment.
Within the object, yes, density should play a part. The question
should be heat transfer to the surroundings. At the molecular
level, it is how fast heat energy is transferred from the molecules
of the object to the gas molecules.
In convection currents, I thought initially that mass should
play more. This is because the internal energy of a gas is due to
the solely due to the speeds of the gas molecules. And the energy
of the molecule is related to temperature by the equation 3/2 k T,
where k is the boltzmann's constant.
Also, speed of molecules = 1/2 m v^2
So we can equate 1/2 m v^2 to 3/2 kT, giving us v = sqrt
(3KT/m)
* Not sure if I remember all the equations proprely*
That's the only reason so far I can think of on why mass is
related to convection currents. The reason why convection currents
occur is due to density of the different temperatures of the gas,
and not because of the density of the gas itself at r.t.p.
