Question 1 Report
The diagram shows the particles in a non-metal solid, held in fixed positions by bonds. One end of the solid is heated. How is the thermal energy passed toward the cooler end?
The correct answer is that particles at the hot end vibrate more strongly and pass energy to neighbouring particles. In a non-metal solid the particles are fixed in place by bonds, so heating makes them vibrate harder and they hand kinetic energy on to their neighbours down the rod. Convection cannot happen because the particles cannot flow, they do not leave their fixed positions, and a non-metal has no free electrons to carry the energy.
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