What term describes the transfer of energy from a warmer object to a cooler one?

The term that describes the transfer of energy from a warmer object to a cooler one is heat. In thermodynamics, heat is defined specifically as the energy that flows from one substance or system to another due to a temperature difference. It is important to note that heat can be transferred in various ways, including conduction, convection, and radiation, but the specific term for that transfer of energy itself is heat.

Conduction refers to the process by which heat is directly transferred through a material when objects are in contact, without the movement of the material itself. While it is a mechanism of heat transfer, it does not encompass all forms of energy transfer between objects of different temperatures.

Thermal energy encompasses the total kinetic energy of particles in a substance due to their temperature. However, it does not specifically refer to the process of transfer; rather, it describes the energy that may be transferred.

Radiation, on the other hand, involves the transfer of energy through electromagnetic waves, such as sunlight warming the Earth. While it is a form of heat transfer, it relies on radiative processes rather than direct contact or movement of matter.

Thus, while conduction, radiation, and thermal energy play roles in the transfer of energy related to temperature differences, the concise term that specifically