Learn physics by living in an old house

The other day I was standing at the sink getting the dishes organized to wash as my good father taught me, and I felt heat. My first thought was, hot flash? No. Fire in the ceiling? No. I looked around for what could possibly be the source of heat. There are no heat pipes in that part of the kitchen. I then realized that the radiator on the other side of the room was on and cranking away. But the sink is next to the window clear across the room. I mean we're talking a good 10-12 feet.

Heat, as you know, is the motion of molecules. The higher the temperature, the more movement. Generally, when we think of heat rising we think vertically but in reality, gases, like air, will move depending on the pressure. When temperature increases, it also increases pressure from all of those molecules moving faster. Air generally moves from areas of high pressure (warm part of the room) to areas of lower pressure (cooler next to the window). Pretty neat, heh?

That ends today's lessons in physics.