Biot Number

The Biot number (Bi) is a dimensionless number used in heat transfer calculations. It is named after the French physicist Jean-Baptiste Biot (1774–1862), and gives a simple index of the ratio of the heat transfer resistances inside of and at the surface of a body. This ratio determines whether or not the temperatures inside a body will vary significantly in space, while the body heats or cools over time, from a thermal gradient applied to its surface. In general, problems involving small Biot numbers (much smaller than 1) are thermally simple, due to uniform temperature fields inside the body. Biot numbers much larger than 1 signal more difficult problems due to non-uniformity of temperature fields within the object.

The Biot number has a variety of applications, including transient heat transfer and use in extended surface heat transfer calculations.

Read more about Biot Number:  Definition, Applications, Mass Transfer Analogue

Famous quotes containing the word number:

    My tendency to nervousness in my younger days, in view of the fact of a number of near relatives on both my father’s and mother’s side of the house having become insane, gave some serious uneasiness. I made up my mind to overcome it.... In the cross-examination of witnesses before a crowded court-house ... I soon found I could control myself even in the worst of testing cases. Finally, in battle.
    Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)