Internal Energy

Claimed by Michelle McIntire M06

Main Idea

Internal Energy, as referred to in Intro Physics, is energy within a system. When determining the specifics of internal energy it is best to refer to the real system of the interaction, rather than the point-particle system. The system may consist of internal interactions, such as spring interactions and thermal energy transfer. Internal Energy is any energy in the system other than movement of the center of mass.

Internal Energy can include, but is not limited to:

Vibrational Energy: The potential energy of macroscopic springs cannot be modeled as a point particle system, and is often used to represent bonds between atoms in different materials.

Thermal Energy: Thermal Energy is any energy in the form of heat, or changes in energy from heat transfer.

Rotational Energy: Rotational energy is energy of real system about the center of mass.

Chemical Energy: When a person runs, the change in kinetic energy of the runner is often affiliated with a loss in chemical energy.

A Mathematical Model

Vibrational Energy:

Thermal Energy:

Rotational Energy:

Chemical Energy:

A Computational Model

You can use a computational model to track Kinetic Energy of the point-particle system. Using the change in this Kinetic Energy and the Change in Energy due to the surroundings we can determine the change in Internal Energy of a system.

How do we visualize or predict using this topic. Consider embedding some vpython code here Teach hands-on with GlowScript

Examples

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