Heat Conduction Along a Rod

The simulation demonstrates one‑dimensional heat conduction in a copper rod that is insulated except at its ends. Heat enters the left end from a flame and leaves the right end into water at 20 °C, illustrating Fourier’s law H = kA ΔT/L and the development of a linear temperature gradient in the steady state.

Students step through the experiment with numbered buttons: lighting the burner, watching wax‑stuck nails fall as they reach 45 °C, and observing the rod’s colour change and the accompanying temperature‑versus‑position graph. In the fourth step the three thermometers can be dragged along the rod to compare local readings, reinforcing the concept of a uniform gradient.

By interacting with the controls, learners see how heat flow depends on material properties and boundary conditions, and they gain intuition about transient versus steady‑state heat transfer, an essential topic in thermodynamics and engineering.