Definitions - Heat in the Environment
These are the current definitions that you should be studying. Updated May 11th.
| Heat | Thermal energy transferred from one object to another due to temperature difference. |
| Temperature | A relative measure of how hot or cold something is, measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in a substance. |
| Thermal Energy | The energy generated by the movement or vibration of particles, the total kinetic energy of all the particles in a substance. |
| Energy | The ability to cause movement, do work, or cause change. Measured in Joules (J). |
| Heat Capacity | The thermal energy required to raise the temperature of a substance by 1oC. |
| Specific Heat Capacity | The thermal energy required to raise the temperature of a specific quantity (1 kg) of a substance by 1oC. |
| Thermal Pollution | Accidental warming of the environment that results from human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels. |
| Cogeneration | A method of energy conservation by which waste heat or energy from one industry is used by another industry. |
| Plateau | The temperature vs time line is horizontal when something is going through a change of state. |
| Radiation | The transfer of thermal energy in the form of electromagnetic waves. No contact is necessary to transfer energy. |
| Conduction | The transfer of thermal energy through contact. Particles vibrate and bump into one another, transferring their energy. |
| Convection | The transfer of thermal energy by a moving fluid. A warm fluid moves and carries energy with it, throughout a cooler fluid. |