Question

What state of matter does conduction and convection take place in?

Answer 1

Conduction:

Thermal conductiob is the transfer of heat between two bodies by microscopic collisions and movement of electrons within a body. The microscopically colliding particles include molecules, atoms and electrons. Conduction takes place in all three states of matter and the rate at which it takes place is a fuction of temperature difference between the two bodies in contact. Conduction esentially requires two bodies to be in contact. Conduction is generally not considered to take place in fluids as there is a large distance between particles which translates as lesser number of collisons. Therefore is generally said take place only in solids as the particles are very closely packed and vibrations are transferred without much loss in energy.

Convection:

Convection is the heat transfer due to bulk movement of molecules in a substance. It takes place by advection, diffusion or both. It is obvious that it takes place in fluids as it is associated with movement of particles. It also takes place in soft solids or mixtures where solid particles can move past each other. Convection cannot take place in solida because there is neither a bulk current nor any significant diffusion of particles.