Thermal Energy Flashcards

All 4 cards in this deck

What two things can heating a system do?

Raise its temperature, or produce a change of state.

What happens to the particles of a substance when its temperature rises?

Their average kinetic energy increases, so they move or vibrate faster.

Why is the real temperature rise of an electrically heated object smaller than the value calculated from ΔQ = m × c × Δθ?

Not all the energy supplied stays in the object — some is transferred to the surroundings and to other parts of the apparatus.

What is the internal energy of a substance?

The sum of the kinetic energy and the potential energy of all of its particles.