Then what is it? I am talking about heat in one of my classes now...
I just really struggled with this one. Depending on the definition, it can
be either the thermal energy 'quantity' or the process in which the thermal
energy is transfered. You can "heat" something, or something can
have "heat". Because both are in general usage, I think it is important
for students to be exposed to both and the difference between them.
On a related topic - the three processes of heat are conduction, convection
and radiation, right? What about bulk forced motion? How do explain the
operation of a forced-air furnace?
And should convection be in there with conduction and radiation?
Convection by itself does not transport heat to another body, it just moves
the heated 'body' around. Are not conduction (random motion/collisions)
and radiation (photon emission/absorption) fundamentally different from
convection?