Monday, November 8, 2010

Heat and Internal Energy

Heat is defined as the transfer of energy across the boundary of a system due to a temperature difference between the system and its surroundings.

When you heat a substance, you are transferring energy into it by placing it in contact with surroundings that have a higher temperature. This is the case, for example, when you place a pan of cold water on a stove burner—the burner is at a higher temperature than the water, and so the water gains energy.

Internal energy is all the energy of a system that is associated with its microscopic components—atoms and molecules—when viewed from a reference frame at rest with respect to the center of mass of the system. 

Internal energy includes kinetic energy of random translational, rotational, and vibrational motion of molecules, potential energy within molecules, and potential energy between molecules. It is useful to relate internal energy to the temperature of an object 

1 comment:

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