Chapter 4: Heat

Heat, energy that is transferred from one body to another as the result of a difference in temperature. If two bodies at different temperatures are brought together, energy is transferred—i.e., heat flows—from the hotter body to the colder. The effect of this transfer of energy usually, but not always, is an increase in the temperature of the colder body and a decrease in the temperature of the hotter body.

Hot and cold

In our daily routine, we come across a number of objects, out of which some are hot while other objects are cold, e.g. when a frying pan kept on a burning gas stove becomes hot but the handle of the pan is cold. Even among the hot objects, some objects may be hotter than the other.