Abstract

In this report we investigate the transfer of heat and the associated phenomena namely The Thermoelectric effect and Black Body Radiation. We find the Seeback coefficient of a thermoelectric module $S=55.6\pm 1.3mV{K}^{-1}$ , test the First Law of Thermodynamics and aim to find the dependence of load on the efficiency of a heat engine. Additionally, we use a brass cylinder inside an electric oven, simulating a black body to obtain the Stefan-Boltzmann constant ${\sigma }_E=(2.9465\pm 0.0085){10}^{-8}W{m}^2{K}^4$

Introduction

In this set of experiments we explore how temperature and temperature differences of objects and devices affect their other physical properties justifying our theories and conclusions using constants and the laws of thermodynamics. Using a thermoelectric module consisting of 142 Peltier cooling elements combined with a power supply we investigate the Seeback and Peltier effects both classified under the general Thermoelectric Effect. We find the Seeback coefficient which tells us about the thermo-power of a device and test the First law of Dynamics on it by showing energy conservation using various integration and fitting methods. We also demonstrate how to find how efficient a heat engine is and how its efficiency behaves under different loads using a rheostat attached in parallel to this device. Moreover, we validate a method of finding the Stefan-Boltzmann coefficient and compare it to relevant literature to assess the soundness of the method.