1.2.4—Types of flows

A transfer changes location; a transformation changes chemical nature, physical state or energy form.

Classify by what changed, not simply by whether movement occurred. A process can move something and transform it at the same time.

Water flowing from a river to a lake is a transfer; evaporation changes liquid water into vapour, so it is a transformation.

Transformation, because energy form changes; movement alone would be transfer.

Do not classify by movement alone; test location versus form, state or chemical nature.