ENERGY AND MOMENTUM: The Joule

The International System of Units ( SI ) uses seven base units to describe seven fundamental quantities that can be measured by scientists: Symbol Name  Base quantity second ( s )     time meter ( m )        length kilogram ( kg )  mass ampere ( A ) electric current kelvin (Continue reading “ENERGY AND MOMENTUM: The Joule”

GAS LAWS: Boltzmann’s Constant

In previous circumstances, a known quantity of an ideal gas in moles ( n ) was shown to influence a volume of space in accordance with the Ideal Gas Law ( PV = nRT ). It is useful, however, to be able to determine the number of molecules ( N ) of a gas thatContinue reading “GAS LAWS: Boltzmann’s Constant”

HEAT AND THERMAL ENERGY: Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin Scales

What relationship exists ( if any ) between heat and temperature? The concepts of heat and temperature are akin to the relationship between the number of moles of a substance and the molarity ( M = moles / L ) of an associated solution. Recall that a mole is a quantity of substance ( atomsContinue reading “HEAT AND THERMAL ENERGY: Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin Scales”

HEAT AND THERMAL ENERGY: Thermal Expansion of Solids and Liquids.

The subatomic structure of solids and liquids have a profound influence upon how they react to a transfer of thermal energy. Solids have a relatively fixed or rigid structure, whereas the molecular structure of liquids allows for greater expansion and compression. Measurements have shown that ( in general ) a linear relationship exists between theContinue reading “HEAT AND THERMAL ENERGY: Thermal Expansion of Solids and Liquids.”