Heat, Work and Internal Energy

Temperature is a useful idea when describing some aspects of the behaviour of matter in bulk.
It is a quantity which is measurable in the laboratory as we have just seen and is capable of
perception by the sense of touch. One of the aims of modern science is to relate macroscopic
(i.e. large-scale properties! such as temperature! to the masses! speeds! energies! etc.! of the
constituent atoms and molecules. That is! to e"plain the macroscopic in terms of the microscopic.
The kinetic theory regards the atoms of a solid as vibrating to and fro about their equilibrium
positions! alternately attracting and repelling one another. Their energy! called internal energy!
is considered to be partly kinetic and partly potential. The kinetic component is due to the
vibratory motion of the atoms and according to the theory depends on the temperature# the
potential component is stored in the inter-atomic bonds that are continuously stretched and
compressed as the atoms vibrate and it depends on the forces between the atoms and their sepa-
ration. In a solid both forms of energy are present in roughly equal amounts and there is continual
interchange between them. In a gas! where the inter-molecular forces are weak! the internal
energy is almost entirely kinetic. The kinetic theory thus links temperature with the kinetic
energy of atoms and molecules.
Heat, in science! is defined as the energy which is transferred from a body at a higher
temperature to one at a lower temperature by conduction, convection or radiation. $ike other
forms of energy it is measured in joules. %hen a transfer of heat occurs the internal energy of the
body receiving the heat increases and if the kinetic component increases! the temperature of the
body rises. &eat was previously regarded as a fluid called 'caloric'! which all bodies were
supposed to contain. It was measured in calories - a unit now going out of use ( one thousand of
which equal the dietician's )alorie.
The internal energy of a body can also be increased by doing work! i.e. by a force undergoing a
displacement in its own (or a parallel direction. Thus the temperature of the air in a bicycle pump
rises when it is compressed! i.e. it becomes hotter. %ork done by the compressing force has
become internal energy of the air and its temperature rises! as it would by heat transfer. It is
therefore impossible to tell whether the temperature rise of a given sample of hot air is due to
compression (i.e. work done or to heat flow from a hotter body.
The e"pression 'heat in a body'! although often used! is thus misleading! for it may be that
the body has become hot yet no heat flow has occurred. %e should talk about the 'internal
energy' of the body. It is sometimes said that 'the quantity of heat contained in a cup of boiling
water is greater than in a spark of white-hot metal'. %hat is really meant is that the boiling water
has more internal energy and more heat can be obtained from it than from the spark.
The internal energy of a body may be changed in two ways* by doing work or by transferring
heat. %ork and heat are both concerned with energy in the process of transfer and when the
transfer is over! neither term is relevant. %ork is energy being transferred by a force moving its
point of application! and the force may arise from a mechanical! gravitational! electrical or magnetic
source# heat flow arises from a temperature difference.
In a wire carrying a current! electrical energy is changed to internal energy (i.e. more vigorous
vibration of the atoms of the wire and a temperature rise occurs. +ubsequently this energy may
be gives out by the wire to the surroundings as heat. %e sum up the whole process bf saying
that an electric current has a' heating effect'.