When the pot is heated on the stove, the particles closest to the heat source heat up the quickest.
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This is known as convection heat transfer. As particles in a heated substance rise, they carry heat energy with them, causing cooler particles to move in to take their place. This circulation creates a transfer of heat throughout the substance.
Holding a hot cup of coffee and feeling the heat transfer from the cup to your hand. Using a heated stove to cook food, where heat is transferred from the stove to the pot and then to the food.
This is an example of heat transfer through conduction. The heat from the stove is transferred directly to the metal pan through physical contact, causing the molecules in the pan to vibrate, which in turn increases the pan's temperature.
The spoon being hot after being in a pot on the stove is due to conduction. When the pot is heated on the stove, the heat is transferred to the spoon through direct contact, causing the spoon to heat up. Radiation and convection are other forms of heat transfer that do not apply in this scenario.
This transfer of heat is called convection.