Microscopic Illustration of Conduction
he molecules in two bodies at different temperatures have different average kinetic energies. Collisions occurring at the contact surface tend to transfer energy from high-temperature regions to low-temperature regions. In this illustration, a molecule in the lower temperature region (right side) has low energy before collision, but its energy increases after colliding with the contact surface. In contrast, a molecule in the higher temperature region (left side) has high energy before collision, but its energy decreases after colliding with the contact surface.
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"OpenStax College, College Physics. October 15, 2012."
http://cnx.org/content/m42228/latest/?collection=col11406/1.7
OpenStax CNX
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