What are heat transfer mechanisms?

Heat transfer is how warmth moves from one place to another, just like when you pass a hot chocolate from hand to hand.

Imagine you're sitting on a cold floor, your feet get chilly because the coldness is moving up into your socks. That’s one way warmth (or cold) can move: by touching something. This is called conduction. It's like when you hold a spoon in a hot soup, soon, your hand gets warm too.

Now think about sitting near a fire on a chilly night, you feel warm even if you're not touching the fire. That’s because heat moves through the air, like invisible little helpers carrying warmth from the fire to your face. This is called convection.

Sometimes, like when you're outside and the sun warms your skin, that's radiation. It's like the sun sending out tiny waves of heat that travel through space until they reach you, just like a warm hug from far away.