Examples of Heat Transfer

You might still be confused about the three types of heat transfer. Here are some examples in your house on conduction, convection, and radiation.

conduction: At home: some eggs on a pan, your tongue on some hot food, your finger under the hot stream of water, your hand on the warm cup of hot chocolate, your skin in the hot shower. In the movie theater: finger on hot popcorn, burning your tongue on the hot dogs, pretzels, and nachos. At the amusement park: hands on food, finger on heated metal railings. At a restaurant: spoon in hot soup, tongue on very very hot spaghetti, washing your hands under some warm water.

convection: At home: steam coming up from some hot soup, the moving wax in your typical lava lamp, the smoke and heat coming up from the fire in your fireplace, the smell of food cooking, the popcorn for your party popping in the microwave. In the movie theater: popping popcorn (obviously) smells of food, the air conditioners in the theater. At the amusement park: the smell of chlorine from the water portion of the park, smoke from the smog in the parking lot, the smell of food, the really cold water at the bottom of the pool and the nice and warm water at the top of the pool.

radiation: At home: the sun's rays on the laundry drying outside, the warmth from the fire on your back, how a microwave heats food, your body heat escaping your body, the heat from the heater, the warmth from the oven, the ice cream dissolving in your mouth the bright light from the lamp in the living room. At the movie theater: the body heat from the people around you, the heat from the popcorn machine, the light from the movie screen. At the amusement park: the hot sun on your back, the heat from all the ovens and pizzerias, the light from all the bright lamps, the heat from the engines of the roll coasters and rides.