PASCO ET-8782 Energy Transfer– Thermoelectric - Manual (Page 29)

Model No. ET-8782 Energy Transfer –Thermoelectric
29 ®
Experiment 3:
Teachers’ Notes–
A Model Refrigerator
This sample data is in the file “Refrigerator Data”.
The data shown in the digits displays occurred at Time = 5 minutes.
Answers to Questions
(Step 4) The hot side of the peltier has a larger temperature difference from room temperature than
the cold side. Once equilibrium is reached, the heat being pumped out of the cold block is equal to
the heat flowing into it from its surroundings. The heat flowing out of hot block is equal to the
heat pumped out of the cold block plus the work done by the peltier. Since the heat flow rate out
of the hot block is higher than the heat flow rate into the cold block, and heat flow rate is
proportional to temperature difference, the hot block must have a higher temperature difference.