Natural convection

Imagine you are sitting in a bathtub full of water. When you add hot water, you will notice that the water near the hot water source gets hotter and begins to rise. This is because hot water is less dense than cold water, so it floats up. This is an example of convection.

Now, let us imagine the same thing, but instead of being in a bathtub, you are in a room. The air in the room is like the water in the bathtub. When you heat the air in one part of the room (for example, by turning on a heater), the air becomes less dense and starts to rise. As it rises, it cools down and becomes more dense again. This makes it sink back down towards the ground.

This continuous cycle of warm air rising and cool air sinking is called natural convection. It is called "natural" because it happens without any external forces, like a fan or a pump.

Natural convection is a very important phenomenon in many applications, such as heating and cooling systems, cooking, and even in the Earth's atmosphere. By understanding how natural convection works, we can design better systems that are more efficient and effective.