Lab - Convection, conduction, and modeling of thermal fluxes in the Earth

Extract from the official bulletin:
Geothermal energy and Earth's thermal properties (2A)

Scientific problem:
Within the Earth, two mechanisms of thermal flow with different efficiencies coexist: conduction and convection.
Can we demonstrate, using a model, that convection is more efficient and that the density of the medium influences it?

Procedure:
In a suitable enclosure, a hot spot is created by placing a heat source at different heights and:
- the evolution of temperatures at the 4 corners of the enclosure is measured
- the flow of dyes in the enclosure is visualized