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Is Temperature the flow of energy from warm matter to cool matter?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
No, certainly not.
Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in a body. The temperature of a thing is how strongly the little bits of that thing are shaking about. If they shake hard enough, meaning that the thing is hot enough, they shake the bits apart, so that the thing melts or evaporates.
If I take something hot and put it against something cold, then the shaking of the molecules of the hot matter jostle the molecules of the cold matter, passing on some of their energy. To us that is a flow of heat energy from the hot matter to the cold.
Get that straight! It is a flow of energy, not of temperature, and the temperature is not the flow!
But, you say, suppose I take 10 grams of water at 95 degrees and put them against 10 grams of water at 35 degrees, I will get 20 grams at 65 degrees, right? How does that differ from a flow of temperature?
Temperature does not flow; heat does. I chose that example carefully to make it look like a flow of temperature. Think of a different example: suppose that we put 10 grams of Mercury at 95 degrees against 10 grams of water at 35 degrees; then we would get the whole lot at just about 37 degrees instead of 65 degrees, because it takes about 30 times as much heat to increase the temperature of one gram of water by one degree as it takes to heat one gram of mercury by one degree.
Now, what happened to that "flow of temperature"?
Get the picture?
Heat will flow until the temperatures are the same all right, but the heat still is the only thing that flows.
But, you say, isn't the temperature itself the flow?
No, because if I have water at 95 degrees and I don't have it touching anything at a different temperature, then there is no flow of heat (or energy, if you like; same thing in our examples) and yet the temperature stays at 95. If the temperature were the flow, then zero flow would mean zero temperature, right? And do we get zero temperature? Not a bit of it; we get 95 degrees!
Is this helping you get it straight? If not, ask again.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
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Thermal energy flows from what to what?
Higher temperature to lower temperature. Thermal energy will always flow down the energy gradient.
What is the major different in flow of energy versus the flow of matter?
Matter is always in the form of particles (atoms, molecules, etc.). For it to flow, the atoms have to move from one place to another. Energy can move from some matter to other matter without moving the matter. Example: an ice cube warming up but not yet melting has energy flowing into it, but matter is not flowing. When it starts to melt, matter (in the form of water molecules) flows out.
What is the flow of energy from one material to another called?
Matter.
What is the point at which the net flow of thermal energy between two objects at the same temperature is zero?
When the temperature of the two objects is equal, the Thermal Flow will stop.
How does a refrigerator transfer thermal energy from a cool to a warm temperature?
Different types of refrigerators achieve this in different ways. From an energy point of view, heat has the natural tendency to flow from hotter object to colder objects; making heat energy move the other way requires an energy input.
How can you use the flow of matter or energy in a system to predict a chang in that system?
how can we use the flow of matter or energy in a ayatem to predict a change in that system
How is the movement of matter through the biosphere difference from the flow of energy?
Unlike the one way flow of energy, matter is recycled within and between ecosystems.
How is the flow of energy through a community different from that of matter?
When an animal eats a plant as food, both energy and matter are passed from one organism to another in a food web. Unlike the flow of energy in a food web, however, the flow of matter is not one way. Matter cycles within a community.
Thermal energy flows from what to what?
Higher temperature to lower temperature. Thermal energy will always flow down the energy gradient.
Temperature is the flow of energy?
No, temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the individual particles of a substance. Thermal energy is a term sometimes used to refer to the internal energy present in a system in a state of thermodynamic equilibrium by virtue of its temperature, or heat.
What is the direction of heat flow when a warm object and cool object touch?
from warm to cool, warmth is energy, coolness is the absence of energy.
What form of energy can flow in the absence of matter?
wind
What are biogeochemical?
the flow of matter and energy in the physical environment
What is the flow of energy from one materials to another?
Matter.
How does matter and energy flow through living system and the physical environment?
No it does not matter
How does the temperature of lava affect how far the lava will flow?
The hotter it is, the longer it takes to cool off, and the further it can flow.
Does heat energy occur when heat energy flows from warmer matter to cooler matter?
yes the heat will flow threw, but not create energy
