 Typically, such a new steady-state gradient is approached exponentially with time after a new temperature-or-heat source or sink, has been introduced.When a "transient conduction" phase is over, heat flow may continue at high power, so long as temperatures do not change.An example of transient conduction that does not end with steady-state conduction, but rather no conduction, occurs when a hot copper ball is dropped into oil at a low temperature.