The Three Different Methods Of Heat Transfer

Most people know that heat moves from hot objects to cold objects, but do they know how that heat is transferred? There are only three ways that heat can be transferred: conduction, convection, and radiation. Today I will endeavor to inform the reader on how these three different methods of heat transfer work and provide examples of where they occur in the real world. The most prevalent, and most commonly recognized, form of heat transfer is conduction. Conduction is the transfer of heat through direct contact with another object.(Williams, 2014) Common forms of convection include a pot on a stove eye, a baked potato placed in hot coals, and touching a hot oven door. Conduction transfers heat at the molecular level.(Williams, 2014) Heat is a form of energy, and when molecules absorb energy they speed up. So when an object is heated the molecules of the object begin to speed up.(Williams, 2014) As these molecules speed up they begin to vibrate faster, bump into neighboring particles, and transfer the heat energy to them.(Williams, 2014) This transfer is cyclic and continues until the source of the heat is removed or the molecules have equalized and are all the same temperature.(Williams, 2014) There are four characteristics that impact how conduction is performed: the …show more content…
The first method of thermal energy transfer is conduction, which is performed through direct contact with a surface that has a higher energy level. The second method of thermal energy transfer is convection, which utilizes the flow of fluids such as liquid and air and is what heats the oceans and atmosphere. The third and final way that thermal energy is transferred is through thermal radiation, which is passed through electromagnetic waves and is how the heat of the sun passes through the vacuum of space. Hopefully my paper has helped to provide a better understanding of how these different forms of thermal energy transfer