Internal Energy

by valerie, alyssa and yijing

Definition

the internal energy of a

system is the sum of the
kinetic energy (due to
random motion) and
potential energy of all the
particles in the system
Relating Temperature Changes to Changes in
internal Energy
When there is a temperature difference between two objects, energy is transferred from one object to
the other by heating, until their temperatures become the same.

When the temperature of an object increases, there is an increase in its internal energy.

When the temperature of an object decreases, there is a decrease in its internal energy.

When heating takes place between two objects that are perfectly isolated from the surroundings, the
increase in internal energy of the first object is balanced by the decrease in internal energy of the
second object.
Misconceptions
There is a bottle on a moving truck, it is moving along with the truck, but the particles in the kinetic and
potential energy of water are not affected, so the internal energy is constant.
Thank
you!!