Question

A student places one end of an iron nail in a cup of boiling water. Eventually, the whole nail is hot. He says that the heat transferred through the nail by convection. Which of the following explains why his statement is incorrect? There was no movement of matter within the nail. The nail did not emit any light. The water did not change phase. Only gases can transfer heat by convection.

Answer 1

Convection is all about hot and cold matter flowing up and down. There was no movement of matter within the nail. The heat transferred through the nail by conduction.

Answer 2

There was no movement of matter within the nail.

Step-by-step explanation:

Convection is a type of heat transfer which occurs when heat is moved through a fluid. It is caused by the movement of fluid which carries thermal or heat energy. And conduction is a heat transfer method by the actual movement of the heating matter. It is caused when heated molecules collide with each other and thus heat transfer takes place though the solid body. When the student puts one end of the iron nail in boiling water and eventually the whole nail gets heated is basically the end placed inside water receives heat from the boiling water though convection process and the whole nail eventually gets heated up is due to the conduction process which occurs when heated maters move and collide with each other. Thus there is movement of matter within the nail for the whole nail to get heat up.

Thus, "There was no movement of matter within the nail" statement is incorrect.