I know what a short circuit is and how to make that happen. But what actually happens? Why does low resistance in a circuit causes the conductive material to become so hot?
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Resistance resists current. If the current is being pushed by the same electromotive force (AKA EMF, or Voltage), then more resistance means less current, and less resistance means more current. Most of the power sources that we use can apply the same EMF over a very wide range of currents*, so low resistance->large current->the energy has to go somewhere, it turns into heat.
*Batteries do this because the chemical reaction in the battery stops when the terminals in the battery have a certain Voltage difference, and starts up again if the difference drops. Wall power does this because the electrical grid is very very big, so you would have to draw an enormous amount of current to cause any noticeable change.
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