Q.Explain conduction, convection and radiation with examples.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Conduction transfers heat through a medium via molecular collisions with no bulk movement (e.g., a heated metal rod); convection transfers heat via the actual bulk motion of a fluid (e.g., boiling water); radiation transfers heat as electromagnetic waves, requiring no medium at all (e.g., sunlight through space).
Conduction. Conduction is the mode of heat transfer in which heat flows from a region of higher temperature to a region of lower temperature through a material medium (most efficiently in solids, especially metals) without any actual movement of the medium's particles as a whole — energy is passed from molecule to molecule (or via free electrons in metals) through vibrations/collisions.
Example: If one end of a metal rod is held in a flame, the other end gradually becomes hot too, even though the metal itself does not move — heat has travelled along the rod by conduction.
Convection. Convection is the mode of heat transfer in fluids (liquids and gases) in which heat is carried from one place to another by the actual movement of the heated fluid particles themselves — the hotter, less dense fluid rises and is replaced by cooler, denser fluid, setting up a convection current.
Example: When water is heated in a vessel from below, the hot water at the bottom rises (being less dense) and cooler water sinks to take its place, continuing until all the water is heated — this is natural convection. Land and sea breezes, and the heating of a room by a room heater, are further examples.
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