Station 3: Energy Transfer Reading & Questions

Heat always moves from a warmer to a cooler place through solids (by conduction) and through liquids and gases (mostly by convection).

Conduction is the transfer of heat from a warmer substance to a cooler substance through direct contact like the metal rod touching the fire and your hand!

Convection is the transfer of heat in a fluid through currents like your hands being warmed by the warm air currents rising up from the fire.

Radiation is the transfer of energy as electromagnetic waves. You can see the waves coming from the sun or  given off by the fire or a  bulb in the form of visible light.

Heat (thermal energy) consists of random motion and the vibrations of atoms and molecules.  The higher the temperature, the greater the molecular motion.  Thermal insulators are materials that resist the flow of heat. Conductors are materials which allow heat to flow through them easily.

Electrical Energy  provides a convenient way to transfer energy to where and when the energy is needed.

Sound is another form of energy produced by a vibrating object. The vibrating object pushes the particles of matter next to it and causes them to compress. Sound must travel through matter.

Light: Light energy interacts with matter and with our eyes and allows us to see things. More light reflects off of smooth, light colored objects. Light can travel through space

Black absorbs all colors of light and white reflects all colors.  When we see a blue object it is because the object is reflecting blue waves to our eyes and absorbing all other colors.

When white light travels through two different substances it refracts or bends.  This is why we see a rainbow when sunlight is passing through a raindrop. The light bends so we see all the colors that make up white light:  ROYGBIV