Heat & Thermal Energy
Temperature, heat flow, and thermal equilibrium
Do Now: You leave a hot cup of cocoa on the table. An hour later it’s at room temperature. Where did the energy go?
Into the air and the table around it. The energy was not destroyed — it spread out into the surroundings. This unit explains how and why.
Try It First
Put a hot object and a cold object in contact. Watch their temperatures.
Pick the materials, masses, and starting temperatures, then press “Touch them!”
Lessons
NYS P-12 Science Learning Standards, Physics: HS-PS3-4 — Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that the transfer of thermal energy when two components of different temperature are combined within a closed system results in a more uniform energy distribution among the components in the system (second law of thermodynamics).