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Heat transfer can occur through conduction, convection, or radiation. Understanding these principles helps humans manipulate heat energy for various tasks, from providing heat in a home to cooking food. Conduction transfers heat through matter, while convection moves heat through liquids or gases. Radiation occurs through electromagnetic waves and is responsible for most of the heat our planet receives.
Heat transfer is the process of moving heat from one place where there is a lot of heat to another place. In physics, it is taught that this is accomplished mainly in three ways: conduction, convection or radiation. In a way, using this knowledge helps humans manipulate heat energy in the most beneficial ways.
Understanding the principles behind heat transfer helps people perform a variety of tasks more efficiently. From providing adequate heat in a home to providing options for cooking various foods, heat transfer plays a vital role in everyone’s life. The uses of heat transfer are nearly endless.
Conduction is one of the most common ways to transfer heat. This is done by transferring heat through matter from one atom to another. It is most commonly experienced when a piece of metal, such as a cooking spoon, is left in hot liquid for too long. The heat will go up the spoon. Some materials are more conductive than others, which is why metal pans often have rubber handles, and kitchen utensils also come in wood and plastic.
Conduction is a type of heat transfer that can easily be experienced in other ways as well, such as when holding a piece of metal. Often times, metal feels cold to the touch, even though it’s actually the same temperature as everything else in the room or area. What is actually happening is a transfer of heat between your body and the metal. The metal is actually pulling the heat away from the skin.
Convection is the actual physical movement of heat from one place to another in the form of a liquid or gas. Generally hot air, and heat in general, rises, which is why steam from a boiling pot rises. This concept can be clearly demonstrated on a warm day and is responsible for moderating temperatures near oceans and breezes. As the warm air rises from the land in the afternoon and early evening, cooler air above the water enters and takes its place, causing a breeze towards shore.
In the morning the opposite is true. Because the air above the water doesn’t cool as fast, it rises in the morning and is replaced by the air above land. Hence, the sea breeze actually blows towards the sea at that time.
The other type of heat transfer is radiation. While many have become concerned after hearing about the negative effects of radiation and its ability to cause cancer, this type of heat transfer is responsible for most of the heat our planet receives. Radiation occurs when heat travels via electromagnetic waves through seemingly empty voids, like heat from the sun traveling through space. Radiation is responsible for traditional cooking and cooking in a microwave oven.
