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    Thermal Energy

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    sejong4eva

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    Thermal Energy

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    sejong4eva
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    Thermal Energy

    Uploaded by

    sejong4eva

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Thermal Energy

    {and Temperature vs. Heat}


    1
    As you know, all matter has energy and there are different types of energy that we
    encounter on a daily basis. All matter is made of particles called atoms and molecules. These
    particles are in constant motion; they vibrate, rotate, or move from one place to another
    randomly! Since these particles are in motion, which type of mechanical energy do they have?
    If you answered kinetic energy, that’s correct! Kinetic energy is the energy an object has due
    to its motion. Water molecules have kinetic energy because they are freely flowing.

    2
    When you boil a pot of water on the stove,
    energy is produced. This energy is called thermal
    energy. The prefix therm- means “heat”. Thermal energy
    is the total amount of kinetic energy contained in all the
    particles of a substance. The greater the kinetic energy
    of the moving particles in the substance, the more
    thermal energy the substance has. However, thermal energy also depends on the number of
    particles in a substance. More thermal energy does not necessarily mean a higher
    temperature. For example, the ocean, because it is so huge, has much more thermal energy
    than a pot of boiling water.

    3
    When scientists measure temperature (using a thermometer), they
    aren’t necessarily measuring how “hot” or “cold” a substance is. They are
    actually measuring the average kinetic energy of the particles in a substance.
    The more kinetic energy the particles have, the higher the temperature of the
    substance. This is different from thermal energy because temperature is not
    affected by the number of particles the substance contains.

    4
    So what about HEAT? Heat is the TRANSFER of thermal energy
    between substances that are at different temperatures. Energy is always
    transferred from the warmer substance to the cooler substance. For
    example, if you hold a hot cup of cocoa on a cold day, the heat from the
    cocoa transfers from the cup to your hand. The cold does not travel
    from your hand to the cup. The heat will continue to flow from the cup
    of cocoa to your hand until they are at equilibrium. This is the point
    when your hand and cocoa are at the same temperature. There are three
    types of heat transfer: Conduction, Convection, and Radiation.

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