Thermal+Energy

Thermal Energy

The ultimate source of thermal energy available to mankind is the sun, the huge thermo-nuclear furnace that supplies the earth with the heat and light that are essential to life. The nuclear fusion in the sun increases the sun's thermal energy. Once the thermal energy leaves the sun (in the form of radiation) it is called heat. Heat is thermal energy //in transfer//. Thermal energy is part of the overall //internal energy// of a system. Thermal energy, like Mechanical energy, exists in two stored forms of thermal energy are (1) internal potential energy and (2) internal kinetic energy. Thermal energy is also in transition is called HEAT.The ultimate source of thermal energy available to mankind is the sun, the huge thermo-nuclear furnace that supplies the earth with the heat and light that are essential to life. The nuclear fusion in the sun increases the sun's thermal energy. Once the thermal energy leaves the sun (in the form of radiation) it is called heat. Heat is thermal energy //in transfer//. Thermal energy is part of the overall //internal energy// of a system. At a more basic level, thermal energy comes form the movement of atoms and molecules in matter. It is a form of kinetic energy produced from the random movements of those molecules. Thermal energy of a system can be increased or decreased. When you put your hand over a hot stove you can feel the heat. You are feeling thermal energy //in transfer//. The atoms and molecules in the metal of the burner are moving very rapidly because the electrical energy from the wall outlet has increased the thermal energy in the burner. We all know what happens when we rub our hands together. Our mechanical energy increases the thermal energy content of the atoms in our hands and skin. We then //feel// the consequence of this - heat. **Thermal Energy** is the kind of energy that is related to and/or caused by heat. When **thermal energy** is applied to a substance, the average //[|velocity]// of the particles or [|molecule] s which make up the substance //increases// -- and it gets //warmer!//