Describe the three modes of heat transfer. Which mode operates in a vacuum? Then state all 5 properties of an image formed in a plane mirror.

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THREE MODES OF HEAT TRANSFER: (1) CONDUCTION: Heat transfers through a material by particles VIBRATING and colliding with adjacent particles — passing energy along. REQUIRES A MEDIUM (usually solid). Example: Heat from a stove burner passes through a metal pan to the food. Metals are good conductors; wood and plastic are insulators. (2) CONVECTION: Heat transfers through MOVEMENT of the fluid itself. Hot fluid becomes less dense and RISES; cool fluid sinks to replace it — forming CONVECTION CURRENTS. REQUIRES A MEDIUM (liquid or gas). Example: Water boiling in a pot. Sea breeze (sea heats air in day → air rises → land breeze replaces). (3) RADIATION: Heat travels as ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES (infrared radiation). DOES NOT REQUIRE A MEDIUM — can travel through VACUUM. Example: The Sun's heat reaches Earth through 150 million km of empty space. Dark/rough surfaces absorb and emit radiation better than shiny/smooth surfaces. HEAT TRANSFER IN VACUUM = RADIATION ONLY. PLANE MIRROR IMAGE — 5 PROPERTIES: (1) VIRTUAL — the image cannot be caught on a screen; it appears to be behind the mirror. (2) ERECT (UPRIGHT) — the image is the right way up. (3) SAME SIZE — the image is the same size as the object (neither magnified nor diminished). (4) LATERALLY INVERTED — left and right are SWAPPED (your left hand appears as the right hand in the mirror). (5) SAME DISTANCE — the image is as far behind the mirror as the object is in front of it.

Practice — Physics — Measurement, Motion, Heat, Light & Sound

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