Heat moves from place to place. We call that ''heat transfer.'' There are three ways heat can move, or transfer, from one place to another, and one of those ways is called conduction. Conduction is when heat moves from one object to another object through direct touch. For instance, one piece of metal could conduct heat from another piece of metal if the two are touching. Conduction also refers to when heat moves between atoms and molecules that are touching (or that are very, very close to each other).
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you succeed.
Get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons.
Try it now
I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. It’s like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. I feel like it’s a lifeline.
There are two ways to understand heat moving by conduction. The first way to think about how conduction works is that heat moves from one thing to another by touching. If you touch a hot surface, your hand feels hotter because the heat moves from the surface into your hand. If you put a pot on an electric stove, like the coil stove in the image, the coils touch the pot and they heat the pot at that touching point. Remember, heat always moves from hotter objects to colder objects, so the heat moves from the hot coils on the stove straight into the bottom of the cooler pot.
 |
The second way to understand how conduction works is to understand that heat moves through an object itself. After the coils heat the bottom of the pot, the heat spreads through the whole pot, warming the sides of the pot, too. Many pot handles are plastic because, otherwise, heat would conduct up into the handle too and burn your hand!
Another example would be a metal spoon in a hot liquid, like in this image.
 |
If you leave a metal spoon in a hot pot, the heat will conduct all the way through the spoon, and when you touch the spoon handle, it will be almost as hot as the liquid. This is why people usually use plastic or wooden spoons when they cook in the kitchen. Plastics and woods don't conduct heat as well as metal does.
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
In the example of the hot pot with the metal spoon, how does the heat move through the spoon all the way to the tip? The answer has to do with what the spoon and what everything else you can touch and feel is made of: matter, which is simply stuff that's made up of atoms.
When atoms get hot, they start to move faster because of the heat energy. Watch a pot of water boil sometime. Nothing is moving the water--it moves itself as it gets hotter. That happens because the atoms move faster and faster as they get hotter. They start to hit and run into each other, transferring all of that energy around like pool balls on a billiard's table.
As the atoms in a metal spoon keep hitting over and over, they pass heat energy farther, and eventually, they spread all that heat energy over the whole spoon. The atoms of the part of the spoon in the hot pot are moving the fastest, but they pass the heat all the way up to the very tip of the spoon.
All matter can conduct heat in this way--through the motion of the atoms. Some objects, like metal, conduct heat very well, while other objects, like plastic, don't conduct heat very well. But even plastic can still conduct some heat. If you leave a plastic spoon on a hot enough pot for too long, it will melt!
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Okay, let's now take a moment or two to review. All objects conduct heat. When one object touches a warmer object, the atoms in the warmer object start to hit the atoms in the colder object, moving that heat energy into the colder object. And remember that matter is stuff that is made up of atoms. The atoms in the colder object start to move faster, spreading that heat energy around, warming the object up. So, as we define it, conduction is when heat moves from one object to another object through direct touch. It's really that simple!
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
In this activity, you'll check your knowledge regarding the process of heat transfer via conduction.
For this activity, identify whether each of the given scenarios involves conduction. To do this, you must right-click and print this page. With a pencil and an eraser, neatly write conduction or not conduction in the blank space provided.
_______________ 1. Walking on the beach on a hot summer day will warm your feet.
_______________ 2. During winter, people would turn on their heaters to keep their houses warm.
_______________ 3. A metal spoon becomes hot from the boiling water inside the pot.
_______________ 4. An ice cube will soon melt if you hold it in your hand for quite some time.
_______________ 5. Heating pads are used mainly by physical therapists to warm and alleviate strained muscles.
_______________ 6. The light emitted by an incandescent lamp can be used to incubate chicken eggs.
_______________ 7. A microwave oven heats and cooks food by exposing it to radiation.
_______________ 8. Hot air balloons can rise up in the air due to the heater at its base.
_______________ 9. When a piece of hot lasagna is placed onto a plate, the plate will feel warm after several minutes.
_______________ 10. The Earth's surface receives unequal heating from the Sun.
Already a member? Log In
Back
I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. It’s like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. I feel like it’s a lifeline.
