Thermal Energy Transfer: Conduction and Convection
So how does heat spread? Heat is transferred from hotter regions to colder ones by the processes of conduction, convection, and radiation. We’ll treat conduction and convection first because they work through the same principle: direct particle interaction.
Read the passages that follow and watch the related videos to explore how heat moves from warmer to cooler areas through the transfer of thermal energy. After you have finished, complete the table below.
Conduction
Conduction transfers heat through direct contact and interaction of particles; energy from faster-moving particles is transferred to slower moving particles when they collide. For example, a metal spoon placed in a cup of hot coffee will slowly warm up as coffee particles bump into spoon particles and energy from the coffee transfers into the spoon.
Convection
Convection transfers heat through the movement of material. When a fluid or gas is heated, it expands and becomes less dense than the surrounding material and rises through it. For example, the water at the bottom of a pot on a stove is heated by conduction; as that water warms and becomes less dense, a convection current develops as the warmer water rises and cooler water sinks to the bottom.
| Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Pause/Play video playback |
| Enter | Pause/Play video playback |
| m | Mute/Unmute video volume |
| Up and Down arrows | Increase and decrease volume by 10% |
| Right and Left arrows | Seek forward or backward by 5 seconds |
| 0-9 | Fast seek to x% of the video. |
| f | Enter or exit fullscreen. (Note: To exit fullscreen in flash press the Esc key. |
| c | Press c to toggle captions on or off |
Video: Heat Transfer Through Conduction
| Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Pause/Play video playback |
| Enter | Pause/Play video playback |
| m | Mute/Unmute video volume |
| Up and Down arrows | Increase and decrease volume by 10% |
| Right and Left arrows | Seek forward or backward by 5 seconds |
| 0-9 | Fast seek to x% of the video. |
| f | Enter or exit fullscreen. (Note: To exit fullscreen in flash press the Esc key. |
| c | Press c to toggle captions on or off |
Video: Heat Transfer Through Convection
Take Notes
Using the table below, briefly explain how heat is transferred through conduction or convection in the following everyday examples.
