convect
Transfer heat fluidly
To convect is to transfer heat through the movement of fluid—liquid or gas.
When air or water warms, it rises; cooler fluid moves in to replace it, creating circulation.
This process is convection: Heat convects from the radiator through the room.
The word appears most often in scientific and technical contexts.
Movement through a system
- flowUnbroken forward movement
- currentDirected flow of charge
- eddyCircular counter-current
- swirlRotating, curving movement
vortex · buoyancy · rising · sinking · plume · cell · loop · turbulent
Density-driven ocean movement
- upwellingDeep water rising surfaceward
- downwellingFluid sinking from surface
- gyreCircular or spiral motion
- deep waterSignificantly submerged aquatic zone
circulation · salinity · density · water column · El Niño · La Niña · Gulf Stream · ocean current
Upward air movement
- downdraftDescending air current
- thunderstormViolent weather with lightning
- cumulonimbusTowering storm-producing cloud
- stormSevere atmospheric disturbance
cyclone · tornado · cloud formation · precipitation · front · wind · gust · meteorology
Enclosed cooking chamber
- stoveKitchen heating appliance
- furnaceEnclosed heat-producing structure
- radiatorHeat transfer device
- heatingRaising temperature artificially
warming · bake · roast · broil · toast · simmer · steam · boiling
Earth's crust mobility theory
- magmaMolten rock underground
- asthenosphereDuctile upper mantle layer
- lithosphereCrust plus upper mantle
- hotspotArea of notable activity
subduction · volcanic · geothermal · core · crust · rifting · continental drift · tectonic
circulation
Movement through a system
swirl · vortex · buoyancy · rising · sinking · plume · cell · loop · turbulent · laminar
thermohaline
Density-driven ocean movement
- upwellingDeep water rising surfaceward
- downwellingFluid sinking from surface
- gyreCircular or spiral motion
deep water · circulation · salinity · density · water column · El Niño · La Niña · Gulf Stream · ocean current · overturning
updraft
Upward air movement
- downdraftDescending air current
- thunderstormViolent weather with lightning
- cumulonimbusTowering storm-producing cloud
storm · cyclone · tornado · cloud formation · precipitation · front · wind · gust · meteorology · weather
oven
Enclosed cooking chamber
heating · warming · bake · roast · broil · toast · simmer · steam · boiling · vaporization
plate tectonics
Earth's crust mobility theory
- magmaMolten rock underground
- asthenosphereDuctile upper mantle layer
- lithosphereCrust plus upper mantle
hotspot · subduction · volcanic · geothermal · core · crust · rifting · continental drift · tectonic · upwelling
convectconduct
Manner of behaving
radiate · conduction · radiation · radiant heating · thermal conduction
- convection ovenAppliance circulating hot air
- natural convectionHeat transfer via buoyancy
- convection currentsHeat-caused fluid movement
- convection heaterDevice warming via circulation
- convection heatingWarmth via fluid motion
- convection microwaveAppliance combining radiation and circulating heat