Thermal Energy
Work in progress by KwangJun Jung
Thermal energy is energy possessed by an object or system due to the movement of particles within the object or the system.
The Main Idea
All objects are made up of numerous particles or molecules. Within these objects, those particles or molecules are constantly moving or vibrating, generating heat. Thermal energy refers to the internal energy that comes from these moving particles or molecules within the objects. What we mean by a change of "thermal" energy is that part of the internal energy that is associated with a temperature change. In many situations it isn't possible to say how much of the internal energy is thermal, but if the heat capacity is known, we can use a thermometer to measure a change in the thermal energy.
A Mathematical Model
Change in thermal energy can be calculated by using the following mathematical equation. [math]\displaystyle{ {Q = m*C*dT} }[/math] where Q is the thermal energy in Joules (J), m is the mass of an object in grams (g), C is the object's specific heat capacity (J/goC), and dT is the change in object's temperature in Celsius ().For example [math]\displaystyle{ {\frac{d\vec{p}}{dt}}_{system} = \vec{F}_{net} }[/math] where p is the momentum of the system and F is the net force from the surroundings.
A Computational Model
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