List of Symbols.

a	geometrical dimension, [m]
A	geometrical dimension, [m]
b	geometrical dimension, [m]
B	Biot number, usually hL/k.
cp	specific heat, [J/kg/K]
dsi	differential area element on surface Si, [m2]
$dv^{\prime }$	differential volume element, [m3]
erf (z)	error function, $\func{erf}(z)=2/\sqrt{\pi }\int_{z}^{\infty}e^{-t^{2}}dt$
f	boundary function, units [K] for type 1 boundary, otherwise units  [W/m2]
F(r)	initial temperature distribution, [K]
g	volume energy generation, $[W/m^{3}orJ/m^{3}/\sec ]$
G	Green's function
h	heat transfer coefficient, [W/m2/K]
H(t)	Heaviside unit step function
i,j	indices
J	Joule, unit of energy
k	thermal conductivity [W/m/K]
kg	kilogram, unit of mass
K	Kelvin, unit of absolute temperature
L	geometrical dimension, sometimes body thickness, [m]
m	fin effect parameter, [m-1]; also meter, unit of length
ni	outward unit normal vector on surface Si
P	propagator, function related to the GF
q	heat flux, [W/m2]
r	radial coordinate, [m]
$\overrightarrow{\mathbf{r}}$	position vector, [m]
R	numbering system designation for radial cylindrical coordinate
RS	numbering system designation for radial spherical coordinate
Si	body surface
sec	second, unit of time
t	time, [sec]
T	temperature, [K]
x,y,z	Cartesian coordinates
X, Y, Z	numbering system designations for Cartesian coordinates
W	Watt, a unit of power, equal to one Joule per second.

 

Greek symbols

$\alpha$	thermal diffusivity $[m^{2}/\sec ]$
$\beta$	eigen value
$\delta (x)$	Dirac delta function
$\nabla ^{2}$	Laplacian, spatial derivative in Heat equation
$\epsilon$	small parameter
$\rho$	density [kg/m3]
$\tau$	time at which the heat pulse is released, [sec]
$\phi$	azimuthal angle, cylindrical and spherical coordinates
$\theta$	polar angle, spherical coordinates