Key Concepts
What are things made of?
Molecules or other types of atom groups
What is a molecule?
a group of atoms joined together in a particular way
What is a collision?
the moment when two objects hit each other
Is energy created or destroyed, if not, what happens to the energy?
Energy isn’t created or destroyed. Therefore, as energy transfers, it increases in one part of the system as it decreases in another part of the system. The total energy of a system doesn’t change.
What happens when a thing gets hotter?
When a thing gets hotter, its molecules are moving faster and have more kinetic energy.
What is the average?
a number that summarizes a set of data and that can be computed by adding all the numbers in a list and then dividing by the number of numbers in the list
What is a transfer?
to move from one object to another or one place to another
What will the molecules do until they reach a stable state, what is this state?
The molecules of a system will transfer energy until the system reaches a stable state known as equilibrium, in which all of the molecules are moving at about the same speed.
What happens when a thing gets colder?
When a thing gets colder, its molecules are moving slower and have less kinetic energy.
What is the kinetic energy?
the energy that an object has because it is moving
when something becomes different over time
What is Essential Standard 1?
The temperature of an object is related to the kinetic energy of its molecules, which increases as the speed of the molecules increases.
For things with the same temp. what will have more total kinetic energy?
For things at the same temperature, the thing with more molecules has more total kinetic energy (thermal energy) than the thing with fewer molecules.
What is temperature?
Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the molecules of a thing.
What does the word infer mean?
to reach a conclusion using evidence and reasoning
What is thermal energy?
the total kinetic energy of all the molecules that make up a sample
What is Essential Standard 2?
Warmer objects transfer energy to cooler objects when they are in contact.
How do you get equlibrium?
At equilibrium, the average kinetic energy (temperature) of the molecules in the system is the total kinetic energy (thermal energy) evenly divided by the number of molecules in the system.
What happens when two things are in contact?
When two things are in contact, their molecules collide, and kinetic energy transfers from the faster‑moving molecules to the slower‑moving molecules.
What is a system?
a set of interacting parts forming a complex whole
What is equlibrium?
a balanced state in which a system is stable, such as when two or more samples are at the same temperature
What is Essential Standard 3?
The size of the objects in contact affects the amount of energy transfer between them and the amount of temperature change.
What happens when a thing gains or loses energy?
When a thing gains or loses energy, the energy gained or lost is divided among all the molecules of the thing.