Meaning & use
conduction
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Meanings
noununcountablephysics
The passing of heat or electricity through a material from one part to the next without the material itself moving.
Grammar: Uncountable physics term: heat travels by conduction.
Patterns
- conduction of heat
- by conduction
Heat moves along a metal spoon by conduction.
Copper is chosen for wires because it is excellent at conduction.
Conduction occurs when particles bump into their neighbors.
noununcountablebiologymedical
The travel of a nerve signal along a nerve fiber.
Grammar: Medical use: nerve conduction.
Patterns
- nerve conduction
Doctors tested nerve conduction in her arm.
Fat sheaths around nerves speed up conduction.
Damage slowed the conduction of signals in his leg.
Common combinations
- heat conduction
- Heat conduction is faster in metals than in wood.
- electrical conduction
- Electrical conduction depends on free electrons.
- by conduction
- The pan warms by conduction from the stove.
- nerve conduction
- A nerve conduction test checks for damage.
- thermal conduction
- Thermal conduction explains why metal feels cold.
Synonyms and how they differ
- transmission
- Transmission is broader and includes sending signals or waves, not only passing through a material.
- transfer
- Transfer is general, while conduction names a specific way heat moves.
- conductivity
- Conductivity is how well a material conducts, while conduction is the process itself.
Opposites
Word family
- conduct verb
- to allow heat or electricity to pass through
- conductor noun
- a material that conducts, or a person who leads an orchestra
- conductive adjective
- able to conduct
- conductivity noun
- how well something conducts
- nonconductor noun
- a material that does not conduct
Commonly confused: conduction or convection? conduction or induction?
conduction vs convection
Convection is heat moved by flowing liquid or gas, while conduction passes heat through solid contact.
conduction vs induction
Induction creates an electric current through a changing magnetic field; it is not direct passage through a material.
Practice
A metal spoon left in hot soup soon becomes hot at the handle because of ______.
Choose one answer.
Conduction moves heat along a solid. Convection needs moving fluid, so it is not the cause in a solid spoon.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “conduction”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.