Which statement is true about radiative heat transfer?

• A. It requires a medium to occur.
• B. It is carried by moving electrons.
• C. It only occurs in liquids.
• D. It can transfer heat through a vacuum.

Answer: (D)

Radiative heat transfer is the transfer of thermal energy by electromagnetic waves, which can move through empty space. That allows heat to travel through a vacuum—like sunlight reaching Earth from the Sun without any air or fluid in between.

This is why the statement about transferring heat through a vacuum is true. It doesn’t require a medium to carry the energy.

The other ideas don’t fit because radiation doesn’t need matter at all, so it isn’t dependent on a medium. Heat transfer carried by moving electrons is a sign of conduction in materials, not radiation. And radiation occurs in all states of matter—and even in empty space—so it isn’t limited to liquids.