Transcript: There are three basic modes of heat transfer or ways that energy can be carried from a higher temperature material to lower temperature material. One is conduction which is heat transfer by tiny microscopic motions of the atoms or molecules. Conduction can occur in solids and liquids but not gases because the density is too low. Convection is the large wholesale motion of masses of material, and it can occur most effectively in liquids and gases, although conduction does occur in the high temperature molten magma of the Earth itself. The third mode of energy transfer is radiation. This can operate through the vacuum of space.