Re: [Phys-l] Heat is not a noun

["John Clement" <clement@hal-pc.org>]

> > Romer claims that heat should not be used as a noun. While I agree
> > with the spirit of using the word heat correctly, I disagree that heat
> > is not a noun. Heat is indeed a noun, but it is the name of a process,
> > not the name of what is transferred.
>
> Heat as it is used since Carnot is not correctly used as a noun.
> Heating may be, but heat is not a substance, not a fluid, it doesn't
> flow; in the expression W+Q=dE, Q is WORK. Why can't physics teachers
> learn not to teach as does Bill Nye the so called Science Guy.  That
> is what confuses students!
Some books adhere to the idea that heat is not a noun, but others do not.
The real problem is that the common usage of heat is at odds with the
current physics usage.  Similarly the word work implies that it is a noun,
especially when you ask the student to calculate work.  Harried secondary
teachers have to resort to shorthand so letting the students use the word
heat as a synonym for energy is often necessary.  But then many teachers do
not understand the physics distinction.  Incidentally one book I saw tried
to make this distinction in the text, but the wording of the headings
screamed heat is a synonym for energy.

A solution that might work much better is to change to more rational
terminology.  The Modeling people use the words heating, and working which
strongly imply a process rather than a thing.  These are gerunds which are
nouns formed from a verb, describing an action, state, or process.  Then one
can refer to heating and working as the means by which energy is transferred
or flows.  And yes, I know that many object to this image, but it is a
necessary image.  It makes the students think about conservation of energy.

While energy is not a fluid, it shares one of the properties of fluids,
namely that it is conserved and is merely moved from one place to another.
And yes, we can argue a lot over where the energy resides.  So in an
introductory course it is necessary to use this image to help students
understand conservation.  One of the things that research has revealed is
that understanding is built on previously known concepts and images.  One
must build on a fluid analogy, and without such an image students are lost
and must resort to rote memorization.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX