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CONVECTION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The transfer of heat through a fluid (liquid or gas) caused by molecular motion
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Hypernyms ("convection" is a kind of...):
temperature change (a process whereby the degree of hotness of a body (or medium) changes)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(meteorology) the vertical movement of heat or other properties by massive motion within the atmosphere
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Hypernyms ("convection" is a kind of...):
action; activity; natural action; natural process (a process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings))
Domain category:
meteorology (the earth science dealing with phenomena of the atmosphere (especially weather))
Derivation:
convect (circulate hot air by convection)
Context examples:
That hot solar plasma rises in the bright centers of “cells,” cools, then sinks below the surface in dark lanes in a process known as convection.
(Newest solar telescope produces first images, National Science Foundation)
The astronomers found turbulent, low-density gas much further from the star than predicted, and concluded that the movement could not result from convection, that is, from large-scale movement of matter which transfers energy from the core to the outer atmosphere of many stars.
(Best Ever Image of a Star’s Surface and Atmosphere, ESO)
The strength of the magnetic field depends on the amount of convection in the star, or how intensely hot gas stirs the interior of the star.
(NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Finds Planet That Makes Star Act Deceptively Old, NASA)
Because our equator bears the brunt of this sunshine, warm moist air rises (through convection) more freely there, which fuels towering thunderstorms that produce lightning.
(Juno Solves 39-Year Old Mystery of Jupiter Lightning, NASA)
WASP-18 is particularly susceptible to this effect because its convection zone is narrower than most stars.
(NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Finds Planet That Makes Star Act Deceptively Old, NASA)
Lithium is usually abundant in younger stars, but over time convection carries lithium to the hot inner regions of a star, where it is destroyed by nuclear reactions.
(NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Finds Planet That Makes Star Act Deceptively Old, NASA)
If there is less convection, the lithium does not circulate into the interior of the star as much, allowing more lithium to survive.
(NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Finds Planet That Makes Star Act Deceptively Old, NASA)
