Relationship between Heat, Temperature, and Thermal Energy


It is important to note that thermal processes relate the ideas of heat, temperature, and thermal energy together along with other constants and variables; however, it is crucial to understand that these three concepts are distinct in what they represent and how they interact with the system and environment in which they take place.




Thus, the three variables of heat, temperature, and thermal energy interact and affect one another at both the macroscopic and microscopic levels and are characteristics which one should be aware of when a change in thermal energy occurs. As explained above, both heat and work can be responsible for adjusting the thermal energy and temperature of a system. This association denotes changes in thermal energy as also being subject to mechanical processes performed by both the system and the environment, an important distinction in relating the overall change in energy of a body as being quantifiable as the sums of change in both mechanical and thermal energy to maintain conservation of energy.


Introduction
Key Distinctions
 The Governing Laws
Thermal Processes
Methods of Heat Transfer and Material Properties
The Physics of Cheesecake
 Bibliography