Thermal conduction transfers energy through a material without the material itself moving. In all solids, vibrating particles at the hot end collide with neighbouring particles, passing kinetic energy along.
In metals, free (delocalised) electrons also carry energy. They move faster at the hot end, diffuse toward the cool end, and collide with lattice ions, transferring energy much more rapidly than particle vibration alone.
This is why metals are much better thermal conductors than non-metals. Gases are poor conductors because their particles are far apart.
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