Mondo Knows Facts
Heat moves in three distinct ways
Conduction passes energy through contact, convection carries it in fluids, radiation needs no medium Conduction transfers energy as neighbouring atoms jostle each other, which is why a metal spoon warms in soup. Convection moves the warm fluid itself, creating currents in air and water. Radiation travels as electromagnetic waves, so the Sun can warm Earth across empty space. It sits in Mondo's science collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
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Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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More facts like this
Absolute zero is the theoretical lower limit of temperatureAt minus 273 degrees Celsius all classical thermal motion of atoms stops completelyWater exists as solid liquid and gas at its triple pointAt zero point zero one degrees Celsius and specific pressure water coexists in three statesEnergy cannot be created or destroyed only transformedThe total energy in an isolated system remains completely constant over timeEntropy measures how spread out energy isThe second law says isolated systems grow more disordered over timeCarnot set a limit on engine efficiencyNo heat engine can beat one minus the ratio of cold to hot temperaturesEvaporation cools whatever is left behindThe fastest molecules escape as vapour, lowering the average energy of the rest
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Tags: physics, heat, thermodynamics
Heat moves in three distinct ways: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Conduction passes energy through contact, convection carries it in fluids, radiation needs no medium. The figure is taken from US Department of Energy, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a science fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Science shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.