does thermal enrgy need a medium?

Answer 1

Radiant thermal energy does not need a medium. The sun heats my neighborhood quite nicely in the summer. That heat travels through the vacuum of space.

HTH

Charles

Answer 2

You mean can heat transfer through a vacuum?

No, it can't.

EDIT:

I assure you that thermal energy (heat) does not transfer though a vacuum.

Electromagnetic waves and various other things are sent from the sun to the earth. "Heat" is not the same thing as "light." Heat transfer is the transfer energy from one atom to another. Thermodynamics is implied.

I asked around, and it appears that in very rare circumstance heat transfer in a vacuum may be possible by some quantum physics matter, but the generally accepted and applied answer is "no."

Answer 3

Question is incomplete.