How can a cup of water have more thermal energy than one pitcher of water?
let's assume there is a cup of boiling water at 100 degrees and lake water at 24 degrees, the regular water would have more thermal energy because of the thermal energy it is absorbing from the sun, but the boiling water requires more energy to be heated.
A pitcher and a drop of water have the same temperature of 100 C. Which among the 2 has more thermal energy? Will heat transfer will happen between the 2?
To determine how a cup of water could have more thermal energy than one pitcher of water, you need to consider the factors that contribute to thermal energy. Thermal energy is the total internal energy of an object, which includes both its temperature and the quantity of the substance.
1. Temperature: The temperature of an object represents the average kinetic energy of its particles. It indicates how fast the particles are moving on average. So, if two objects have the same material but different temperatures, the one with the higher temperature will have more thermal energy.
2. Quantity of substance: The amount or quantity of a substance also affects its thermal energy. More particles in an object mean more overall thermal energy, regardless of the temperature. For instance, if you have one cup of water and one pitcher of water, the pitcher will contain a greater quantity of water and, therefore, more thermal energy.
In general, if you compare two containers of the same substance (in this case, water), the one with a larger quantity will have more thermal energy. However, it's important to note that if the temperature of the cup of water is higher than the pitcher of water, the cup could still have more thermal energy on a temperature basis, even though it contains less quantity.