Heating and Cooling a Sphere Model

Heating and Cooling a Sphere Model is a free program that computes the radial temperature distribution within a sphere as it is heated and cooled by a surrounding fluid. 

The sphere is broken into shells and the temperature of each shell is computed using a finite difference approximation to the radial heat equation in spherical coordinates.

The sphere heats and cools by exchanging thermal energy with the surrounding fluid by convection and this energy exchange is proportional to the difference between the sphere`s surface temperature Ts and the temperature of the fluid Tf.  Inside the sphere the thermal energy is transported by diffusion. 

The temperature inside is uniform if thermal energy transfer within the sphere is faster than thermal energy transfer at the surface.

The simulation shows how a temperature gradient appears if the heat transfer coefficient or the transfer coefficient are large. 

The Heating and Cooling a Sphere model allows users to select copper, aluminum, and iron material properties and to set the sphere`s radius and its heat transfer coefficient to observe these effects.

Requirements:

· Java 1.5 or later