2.7 - Conduction

Conduction transfers energy through vibrating particles

• Conduction is the way energy spreads through a material when its particles pass energy from one to the next.
• It's the main way energy is transferred by heating through solids.

How it works

1. Heating one part of an object transfers energy to the kinetic energy stores of its particles, so the particles in the heated part vibrate faster.
2. As they vibrate, they collide with their neighbours and pass some energy on. Those particles then vibrate faster too.
3. The process carries on through the object until energy has spread to the other side, raising its temperature.

Good and bad conductors

• Thermal conductivity describes how quickly a material transfers energy this way.
• A material with high thermal conductivity transfers energy quickly and is a good thermal conductor (such as metals).
• A material with low thermal conductivity transfers energy slowly and is called a thermal insulator (such as gases, most liquids, plastic, and wood).