Temperature Flashcards
What is the Van’t Hoff equation?
used to quantify effects of temperature on physiology
Q10 = (k2/k1)^10/(t2-t1)
- Q10: quotient for 10ºC temperature change
- k2 and k1: rates of reaction at temperatures t2 and t1
- can be applied to simple processes like enzyme reaction rates
- can be applied to complex processes like resting metabolic rate, growth, or locomotion
- equation can be simplified to Q10 = k2/k1 for reaction at exactly 10°C change
What are typical Q10 values for most chemical reactions?
(including metabolism, growth and locomotion)
typical Q10 values are 2-3 ∴ reaction doubles or triples with 10ºC change in temperature
What is the Q10 of purely physical processes?
(like diffusion) typical Q10 value is closer to 1
Why is temperature often referred to as an ecological master factor?
temperature affects everything that occurs in animal, then affects everything that occurs to other animals – large impact on food webs, community structure
What is a thermal strategy?
combination of behavioural, biochemical, and physiological responses that ensure body temperature (TB) is within acceptable limit
What is ambient temperature (TA) and why is it important?
temperature of animal’s surroundings
- most important environmental influence on animal’s thermal strategy
- animals must be able to survive thermal extremes and thermal change
- most ecosystems exhibit spatial and temporal variation in temperature
What is the thermal niche of all terrestrial life?
-60ºC to +60ºC
What is the thermal niche of all aquatic life?
-2ºC to +40ºC
What are the two major thermal strategies?
- tolerance: body temperature is allowed to vary with ambient temperature
- regulation: body temperature does not vary with ambient temperature – controlled (ie. humans maintain temperature at 37ºC
What is the equation for total thermal energy?
ΔHtotal = Δ Hmetabolism + ΔHconduction + ΔHconvection + ΔHradiation + ΔHevaporation
What is Fourier’s law?
Q = λ (ΔT/L)
- Q: heat flux (rate of transfer from warm to cold)
- λ: thermal conductivity
- ΔT: temperature gradient
- L: distance over which gradient extends
What are the 4 heat transfer mechanisms?
- conduction
- radiation
- convection
- evaporation
What is conduction?
transfer of thermal energy from one object or fluid to another
conduction to environment (heat loss or gain)
- transfer by direct contact
- ie. lying on cold floor when hot
What is radiation?
radiation to environment (heat loss or gain)
- transfer by electromagnetic radiation
- controlled to some degree by circulation – vasoconstriction and vasodilation
- ie. emitting heat when you are hotter than environment
What is convection?
convection to environment (heat loss or gain)
- transfer to moving medium
- ie. breathing air or water, wind chill
What is evaporation?
evaporation to environment (heat loss)
- transfer of heat energy as a result of latent heat of evaporation – sweating, breathing, drying
- converting water from liquid to vapour uses ≅ 520 cal/g or 2.2 kJ/g
What is the role of anatomy in heat transfer?
- surface area and surface insulation affect rates of heat exchange
- respiratory organs are better at transferring heat than O2
What is the role of behaviour in heat transfer?
- behaviour can alter rates of heat exchange
What is thermal conductivity?
ability of heat energy to move within material
- high conductivity = poor insulation
- air: 0.02 W/m per K | snow: 0.10 | water: 0.59 | rock: 1-3 | ice: 2.1 | muscle: 0.5 | fat: 0.2
What is heat capacitance?
ability to store heat energy
- water can store 3000x more heat than air – water is termed heat sink (GCC)
What do the major determinants of heat exchange via conduction influence?
- life in water vs. air
- insulation materials
- behaviour
ie. sitting on wooden vs. metal seat on cold day
- metal bench is very cold – great conductor, poor insulator
- wood bench is not very cold – full of air, not great conductor, good insulator
How does SA:V ratio influence heat exchange?
- high SA:V ratio → increase rate of heat exchange
- SA:V ratio increases as body size decreases, therefore large animal exchange heat slower than small animals
What is Bergmann’s rule?
mammals and birds living in cold environments tend to be larger
What is Allen’s rule?
mammals and birds in colder climates have smaller extremities (limbs, fins) – because these are large sites for heat less