Introduction to Engineering Heat Transfer

Chapters 1 through 4 discuss steady-state problems, i.e., problems in which temperature depends on position (e.g., x and y) but does not change with time (t). Steady-state problems become progressively more difficult as the dimensionality of the problem increases from 1-D to 2-D (and even to 3-D, although this was not covered). This chapter begins the consideration of transient conduction problems, i.e., problems where temperature depends on time. This chapter specifically considers the simplest transient problem, one in which the temperature approximately depends only on time and not on position.