​Temperature vs Thermal Energy

​Thermal Energy is a measure of the TOTAL energy of the particles.

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​Temperature is a measure of the AVERAGE energy of the particles.

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​So, objects with larger masses have more thermal energy.

The snowman was the correct answer because it had the greatest mass​.

​It has the lowest temperature because the AVERAGE particle motion was lowest. It was the only option that was a solid.

​The correct answer was 5mL of room temperature water.

​Remember, the smaller the mass, the less total energy.

​Mass and Thermal Energy

​Think about lakes in the winter. Often, they can be surrounded by snow, but the lake doesn't freeze as quickly.

​How does thermal energy move from one object to another?

​When thermal energy moves from one object to another, this is called heat. Thermal energy always moves from warmer objects to colder objects. Thermal energy transfer only happens when particles come into contact with one another.

Conductors

​Because particles need to come into contact, some materials are more efficient than others at transmitting thermal energy. Materials with particles that are tightly packed together are usually better conductors. This means that thermal energy will be transmitted through these objects quickly. Copy and paste this link to watch an experiment using different materials:

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​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnnadk7b3VY&ab_channel=HungrySciANNtist

​Insulators

​Materials that do not have tightly packed particles are good at preventing thermal energy from transferring. These materials are called insulators. These can be solids, but they are less dense solids like wood, plastic, wool, and rubber. Air is also a good insulator.